The minister of justice, transparency and human rights yesterday heralded an action plan for the protection of women against physical and psychological violence, as it emerged that one in three women in Greece is a victim of such abuse.

The plan unveiled by Haris Kastanidis aims to curb the instances of such violence, which have increased in recent years, to boost the quality of state aid available to victims and provide better support for victims of sex-trafficking rings, usually immigrants. The immediate aim is to establish 13 hostels for abused women, most of these in Athens and Thessaloniki. There are also plans to set up a telephone line, with multilingual staff, for victims of abuse to call and discuss their problems.

According to the ministry’s new general secretary, Maria Stratigaki, domestic violence against women is on the increase. “In the past 17 months, 35 women were murdered by their husbands or partners while two advice centers in Athens and Piraeus reported 657 visits from women and 1,661 calls for advice.”