They don’t care about us

There is only one truth – and it’s harsh: Greek society (and much more so the police) does not care about us. That’s why hundreds of police officers can be found at the drop of a hat to beat up protesters and soccer fans and, of course, to guard the mighty. But when a woman feels that her life is in danger and asks for their help, they simply brush her off. Then, when she is murdered, they start making insinuations: Why didn’t she press the panic button, why didn’t she sue her tormentor, why was she dressed provocatively, why did she talk back, why didn’t she break up with him etc, etc. The woman, “naturally,” is always to blame and is always responsible for putting herself at risk.

Well, the most recent victim had done everything right. I dare anyone to argue with that. She had filed a formal complaint against her tormentor for rape and physical abuse. She had broken up with him. She went to the police station and asked for help, she told them that he had a history of violence – indeed, he has a record for attacking state employees and drug-related offenses and had been admitted to the Dafni Psychiatric Hospital three times. And what was the result of all her correct moves? Was she saved? Of course not! They let her leave, left her alone with her enemy, even though the police do not need a formal request or a warrant to act in cases of domestic abuse and should have acted. They let her be slayed right outside the police station with a guard just three meters away (or was he, perhaps, not at his post just then? We’re fed one story one minute and another the next in typical deception form).

They don’t care about us. Look at “Babis” and all the protection he got when he murdered his wife in cold blood. They don’t care about us. I speak from experience. What they basically believe is that we have gotten uppity, that we complain about everything, that we sass our men, so of course they get mad and lash out. What are they to do? They don’t care about us. They have poured so much energy into social media and television to make sure that femicide is not called femicide. So that society does not see that men kill women because they are women – and because they can.

They don’t care about us. I have been at the receiving end. I have seen it with my own eyes. Several years ago, two friends and I took a cab to a New Year’s Eve party. The driver assaulted me (I was sitting in the passenger seat in front) right in the middle of downtown Academias Street for no reason whatsoever and nearly broke my arm. We scrambled out of the vehicle, made a note of the license plate number and ran as fast as we could out of his reach. He abandoned the taxi in the middle of the street and chased us. He was slower than we were, thankfully. We obviously ignored the party and ran to the nearest police station to report him. What happened? Nothing! The police officers laughed at our story. They ping-ponged us between different departments to prevent us from following through. But we did follow through because we were determined and we wanted to protect other women who would get into his cab.

Around dawn they realized that we weren’t going away without filing a complaint and they eventually gave us the proper forms to fill. At the trial we learned that the taxi driver was a certified psychopath who had been granted furlough from the Dafni Psychiatric Hospital. Had we been slower, had we been in a more isolated spot, he would have killed us. Get it? That’s what we spent all night trying to explain to the various police officers. You know how they responded? “Come on girls, let it go. It’s the holidays. The guy was probably upset about something and went a bit too far. It’s not like anything happened.”

Nothing has changed since then. Society is still indifferent to women. It only sympathizes with the men who were “probably upset about something and went a bit too far.” They don’t care about us. Understand? They will order an inquiry, conclude that there’s not much that could have been done otherwise and then drop the matter. That is why we will continue see a woman murdered every month like a lamb at Easter until their blood drowns us all.

Lena Divani is a writer.