Seventeen femicides were committed in Cyprus in the period 2020-2025, according to data provided by the Police to KYPE. During 2026, two attempted femicides have been committed.
In addition, a total of 300 women and 347 children were accommodated in shelters for victims of violence on a pan-Cypriot basis in 2025, Aristos Tsiartas, President of the National Coordinating Body for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women at the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, told KYPE.
Police details
Specifically, based on the Police data, five femicides were committed in 2020, five in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2023, one in 2024 and three in 2025. The total number of femicide cases was 16: five in 2020, four in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2023, one in 2024 and three in 2025.
According to the Police, of the 17 femicides committed in Cyprus in the previous five years, six were committed in Nicosia, one in Larnaca, six in Limassol and four in Paphos.
National Coordinating Agency for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women
At the same time, a total of 300 women and 347 children were accommodated in shelters for victims of violence on a pan-Cypriot basis in 2025, Aristos Tsiartas, President of the National Coordinating Body for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women at the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, told KYPE.
Referring to the Agency’s action, Mr. Tsiartas explained that it was established in 2022 on the basis of the provisions of the “Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Law of 2021”. He added that the Agency plans and promotes measures, actions and policies, with the aim of preventing and effectively dealing with gender-based violence at the national level.
In this context, he continued, the Agency has proceeded with the specialized training of approximately 200 front-line professionals from the fields of health, education, social policy and justice, while in the immediate future it is planning the training of approximately 100 members of the Police on a Cyprus-wide basis. At the same time, it implements enlightening campaigns to inform and raise public awareness about gender-based violence, victims’ rights and available support services, he added.
Mr. Tsiartas noted that the Agency, in collaboration with the Police, also contributed to promoting the operation of the ELPIS application, which, as he said, “constitutes an innovative technological tool, which provides victims of violence with the possibility of immediate and discreet communication with the police authorities in cases of danger”.
In addition, he underlined that the Agency is “promoting the creation of a Single Database on gender and domestic violence, which is expected to be completed within 2027, contributing to the improvement of the recording of incidents of violence and allowing the development of more targeted and, by extension, more effective prevention and protection policies”.
“The creation of the archive is estimated to also contribute to the recording, recording and systematic monitoring of femicides, the most extreme form of gender-based violence, which has now become a specific offense in the implementing law-framework of the Istanbul Convention”, Aristos Tsiartas told KYPE. “Through the gathering of reliable and comparable statistical data, the state will be able to identify early risk factors, analyze the characteristics and conditions of the commission of these crimes, and design more effective prevention, victim protection and early intervention policies, with the ultimate goal of preventing new femicides,” he pointed out.
At the same time, he mentioned that the Agency promotes the operation of the pan-European telephone support number 116016 for victims of gender-based violence, financially supports the actions of Non-Governmental Organizations and supports the operation of the 24-hour helpline of the Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Violence in the Family.
In addition, he noted that the Agency undertakes legislative initiatives and promotes reforms to harmonize Cypriot legislation with the Istanbul Convention, the Recommendations of the Council of Europe’s GREVIO Group of Experts and the European Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Responding to a question from KYPE about the number of female victims of violence accommodated in shelters throughout Cyprus, the President of the National Coordinating Body for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women said that, from data obtained from the Association for the Prevention and Combating of Violence in the Family (SPAVO), which operates shelters for victims of violence throughout Cyprus, with state grant from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, in 2025 a total of 300 women and 347 children (their minor children) were accommodated, i.e. a total of 647 persons. This number concerns the accommodation facilities in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos, as well as the alternative accommodation structures operating in the specific provinces, he clarified.
At the same time, Aristos Tsiartas emphasized that the state provides financial support and legal aid to victims of gender and domestic violence, noting that from 2024 amending legislation came into force, based on which victims of gender and domestic violence are now recognized as a distinct category of beneficiaries of free legal aid.
As he explained, the new framework provides the possibility of free legal representation for compensation claims, for proceedings concerning parental care, communication and child support, as well as for the issuance of protection orders. “The specific amendment to the law on legal aid removes significant financial and procedural obstacles faced by victims of violence and substantially strengthens their access to justice and the protection of their rights,” he underlined, adding that “this capital legislative regulation was made possible by the initiative of the National Coordinating Body for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women.”
KYPE