Rape will be punished with life imprisonment on the basis of a law voted unanimously by the Plenary Session of the Parliament and amending the Penal Code. 43 deputies voted in favor of the amendment.
The relevant bill was submitted by MP Aristos Damianos on behalf of the AKEL-Left-New Forces parliamentary group. Its purpose is to amend the basic law, in order to modernize the provisions of Article 144, under which rape is defined and criminalized, so that the relevant offense is in line with current perceptions of what constitutes rape.
In his statement, Mr. Damianou stated that the Parliament unanimously regulates an issue which concerns a very large silent part of the society, which is the victims of rape. He added that the relevant article that exists, has not been modernized and is in force in Cyprus since the time of colonialism. He added that AKEL and the women's organization POGO had repeatedly called for compliance with the legislation under the Istanbul Convention, while he said that all the parties in the Legal Committee where the bill was discussed saw it with a positive eye.
Rape, he said, is a crime that is rarely reported and much more rarely punished. In Cyprus, he said, a very small number are reported and very few are taken to court.
The bill, he said, makes it easier for prosecutors to categorize specific acts as rape. The rape, he added, does not only concern women, but also men and members of the LGBT community. He also said that along with the awareness of the society, there should be further awareness of the law enforcement authorities in order to have the expected response.
AKEL MP Skevi Koukouma also said that the proposal comes to break the penal code from the last century and blamed the Government for the degradation and devaluation of the issue since they recognize that one in three women are victims.
DISY MP and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs Georgios Georgiou stated that his party
supports the proposal that modernizes the law for one of the most serious criminal offenses of a sexual nature, that of rape, which is on the rise, but due to outdated legislation in most cases does not emerge. The components of the crime, he said, have been investigated by the Legal Committee in collaboration with the Legal Service and are in line with current perceptions on the subject, with sentences such as life imprisonment.
DIKO MP Christiana Erotokritou described the AKEL initiative as very correct, which, as she said, her party supports. At the same time, he wondered why this initiative that came from Mr. Damianou did not come from the state, which signed the Istanbul Convention which states that states must modernize their laws. The state added that it has an obligation to monitor the legislation and to amend it in accordance with the needs that arise.
EDEK President Marinos Sizopoulos stated that such social and very serious issues should be addressed at the level of prevention, management and repression. He noted that EDEK since 2003 requested the institution of the social worker of the neighborhood so that these incidents have easy access to a service to report it and not be forced to resort to police stations.
He also said that the management should immediately set up a special support service for those people who have been raped or sexually harassed, and who are causing huge psychological problems.
Regarding the repression, he said that so far no corresponding interest has been shown for repression and that the competent services refuse to investigate cases of rape on the grounds that the complaint is anonymous. As he said, more determination is needed from the competent services of the state. Finally, he stated that the party supports the bill.
The law proposes to divide the envisaged heinous acts into six crimes. These are the following:
- The crime of rape, defined as illicit intercourse through the vaginal, anal or oral penetration of the penis into the body of another person without his consent or with consent given under the state of violence, threat or fear, the commission of which carries a penalty life imprisonment.
- The crime of sexual assault by penetration, which is defined as the vaginal, anal or oral penetration of another person's body with any part of the body and / or object, without the consent of that person or with the consent given under the a state of violence, threat or fear, the commission of which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
- The crime of attempted sexual assault by penetration, the commission of which carries a prison sentence of life.
- The crime of forcing another person to commit rape with the use of force, threat or fear, the commission of which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
- The felony of forcing another person to commit sexual abuse by penetrating a third person using violence, threats or intimidation, the commission of which carries a life sentence.
- The felony of coercion in the commission of intercourse or other acts of a sexual nature, the commission of which carries a prison sentence not exceeding ten (10) years.
Source: KYPE