Domestic violence against Albanian immigrant women in Greece: Facing patriarchy

apostolos — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:44 +0000

Immigration is becoming an increasingly important policy concern in Europe and in many other nations. Importantly, there is an ever-growing number of women who migrate, many of whom are undocumented. Violence against immigrant women is nearly impossible to estimate. However, immigrant women who are abused face multiple barriers to seeking legal protection from the abuse as a result of their migration status, their positions within family and the host country. This paper examines the issues related to intimate partner violence within the Albanian immigrant community in Greece. It explores how the situation in Greek society and the labor market (such as social policies, xenophobic attitudes, job segregation and the prevailing economic crisis) changed the traditional gender roles and distribution of the power within Albanian families and increased intimate partner violence (IPV). The study found evidence of an increase in IPV in the aftermath of the economic crisis, which could be explained by the ideology of familial patriarchy. Battered immigrant women also face challenges in the Greek criminal justice system, which is also influenced by patriarchal values, when they are seeking relief and assistance in cases of interpersonal violence.

Greek Exit from the Crisis—A Pressing and Much-Needed Public Service Reform

apostolos — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:15 +0000

Greece is in a deep crisis; the worst in all of Europe and the worst experienced in 45 years. Greece is no stranger to crises, but most have been exogenous: the Second World War and the Cold War, for instance. Sadly, unlike these crises, the present one is home-made. The wounds that it has caused are largely self-inflicted. It is especially difficult to fathom the logic of strikes by public service unions—repeated, relentless and militant. They paralyzed the country, drove investors and tourists away and added to the burdens that the economy and the people have had to bear. These strikes, and some public servants’ attitudes in the face of the crisis itself, brought into sharp relief the serious capacity deficit in the Greek administrative system, which has been at the root of the problem the country is currently facing. This statement begs the question: how can that be? What, after 30 years of public service reform, presumed to modernize and help the country approximate the standards embedded in the Common European Administrative Space? The paper will suggest that the reforms of the 1980s were only superficially reforms to improve the effectiveness and quality of the Service. Like parallel changes in higher education, the principal objective was harnessing officialdom, and as many voters as possible, to the chariot of PASOK—the political party established by Andreas Papandreou—which effectively governed the country for most of the period in question. The lesson from this experience may be none other, in fact, than clear convincing proof that partisan concerns and institution-building seldom make a good combination. For Greece, in light of the crisis, effective integration in the EU remains a daunting challenge. It calls for bold reforms, but these must be undertaken with institution-building, the country’s general interest, and long term needs in mind.

Social Sciences – To Archeio

Domestic violence against Albanian immigrant women in Greece: Facing patriarchy

Greek Exit from the Crisis—A Pressing and Much-Needed Public Service Reform