Sixteen femicides were recorded in Cyprus between 2020 and 2025, according to police data, while three attempted femicides have already been recorded in 2026, keeping concern over gender-based violence in the country high. In 2025 alone, 300 women and 347 children were housed in shelters for victims of violence.
Police data: 16 cases, 17 victims over five years
According to police data, 16 femicides with 17 victims were committed in Cyprus between 2020 and 2025, since one case involved two victims. By year, victims numbered five in 2020, five in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2023, one in 2024 and three in 2025. By case count, there were five cases in 2020, four in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2023, one in 2024 and three in 2025.
Of the 16 femicides committed over the past five years, six took place in Nicosia, one in Larnaca, five in Limassol and four in Paphos, police said.
Three attempted femicides in 2026
Three attempted femicides have also been recorded in 2026. One is the recent Limassol case, in which a police officer reportedly shot his wife outside a school before taking his own life. The other involved an attempted murder in Nicosia with two women victims, aged 38 and 58.
647 people housed in shelters in 2025
A total of 300 women and 347 children were housed in shelters for victims of violence across Cyprus in 2025, Aristos Tsiartas, Chair of the National Coordinating Body for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women at the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, said.
He said the figures, drawn from the Association for the Prevention and Handling of Violence in the Family (SPAVO), which operates the shelters with state funding from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, related to shelters in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos, as well as alternative accommodation facilities operating in those districts.
Body’s role and initiatives
Tsiartas said the National Coordinating Body was established in 2022 under the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Law of 2021, and that it designs and promotes measures, actions and policies aimed at preventing and effectively addressing gender-based violence nationally.
He said the Body had provided specialised training to around 200 frontline professionals from health, education, social policy and justice, and was planning to train around 100 police officers nationwide in the near future. It also runs public information and awareness campaigns on gender-based violence, victims’ rights and available support services, he added.
Tsiartas said the Body, working with police, had helped promote the ELPIS app, which he described as providing victims with “immediate and discreet communication with police authorities in cases of danger.”
He said the Body was also promoting a Unified Database for gender-based and domestic violence, “expected to be completed within 2027 and improve the recording of violence incidents,” which would allow more targeted and effective prevention and protection policies.
He said the database was also expected to help record and systematically monitor femicides, describing them as the most extreme form of gender-based violence, “now a distinct offence under the Istanbul Convention framework law.” Reliable, comparable statistics would allow the state to “identify risk factors early and design more effective prevention policies,” aimed ultimately at preventing further femicides, he said.
Tsiartas said the Body also promotes the pan-European support helpline 116016 for victims of gender-based violence, provides financial support to NGO initiatives, and supports the 24-hour helpline run by SPAVO.
He added that the Body undertakes legislative initiatives and promotes reforms to align Cypriot law with the Istanbul Convention, the recommendations of the Council of Europe’s GREVIO expert group, and EU Directive 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Legal aid reform since 2024
Tsiartas said the state provides financial support and legal aid to victims of gender-based and domestic violence, noting that amending legislation took effect in 2024 recognising such victims as a distinct category entitled to free legal aid.
He explained the new framework allows free legal representation for compensation claims, parental responsibility, child contact and maintenance proceedings, and applications for protection orders.
He said the amendment “removes significant financial and procedural barriers faced by victims of violence,” strengthening their access to justice. He added that the reform was “made possible on the initiative of the National Coordinating Body.”
(information from CNA)