Greece’s justice ministry submitted to parliament on Monday the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which adopts EU legislation to protect women against all forms of violence.

The landmark treaty opens the path for creating a legal framework at pan-European level, to protect but also prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence.

An important innovation of the convention is the establishment of a specific independent monitoring mechanism called “GREVIO”, staffed by technocrats who will work to ensure effective implementation of its provisions by the countries that have signed it.

Among others, the bill will abolish the anachronistic paragraph 3 or article 339 of the Greek criminal code that allowed men who had seduced a minor under 15 (statutory rape) to avoid or stop their prosecution by marrying the victim.

Source: thegreekobserver