ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid a visit on Saturday to the Police Station of Kallithea, the southwestern suburb of Athens, which houses an Operational Office dealing with domestic violence of a network of 18 such centers incorporated in police stations.

Mitsotakis was accompanied by Citizen Protection Minister and Deputy Minister Takis Theodorikakos and Lefteris Economou, the Hellenic Police chief Constantine SKoumas, and the operational office’s head, police lieutenant Melina Rokidi.

After referring to Friday’s presentation of a plan to deal with violence, especially within families, Mitsotakis also said he was happy to see the more prominent role of Greek policewomen, since victims of domestic violence find it easier to speak out while a female police officer can also help a woman speak up more easily. The aim, he said, was to build the victims’ trust that the police would handle incidents of violence discreetly and professionally.

“We are now providing victims with the opportunity to speak in safety, that’s the difference,” he said. “Domestic violence always existed. Now we have the courage, both the state and mostly the victims, to speak up and to lift the rug and look underneath,” the PM said.

Speaking of the Operational Offices, Minister Theodorikakos said that they had handled 3,000 of the 10,000 in total that police handled this year (2022), “so we obviously need double the number of offices, which we are hoping to be able to provide with the help again of the private sector, especially Papastratos company.” The company has donated all furnishings for the 18 offices, and was represented at the police station by its president and CEO, Christos Charpantidis.

Besides the 18 Operational Offices in Greece, there are also 73 Executive Offices, all of which employ a staff of 403, most of whom hold degrees in law, social studies or humanitarian studies. In addition, the Hellenic Police Directorate has worked with related agencies to train police staffing Operational Offices, and other police personnel related to family violence issues.

On Friday also the prime minister announced the pilot program ‘Panic Button’, an app on phones for women who are in danger and need to notify the police soundlessly. The app sends location data to the police.