(ANSA) – ROME, 12 JAN – The trial of a sailing coach accused of raping an 11-year-old girl in 2010. This is an important moment for the MeToo movement in Greece, triggered a year ago by the allegation of sexual abuse by Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou. The Guardian reports it.
In December 2020, the athlete said he was harassed by a Federation executive while preparing for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when he was 21 years old. Her revelations prompted other women – athletes but also students, journalists and actresses – to report the violence they suffered. And it was Bekatorou who convinced the girl raped by his coach to report him and go to trial. The accused, 38-year-old Triantafyllos Apostolou, is accused of “sexual and psychological violence against the minor”.
In an interview last year, the man argued that the relationships were consensual and that he intended to marry the girl with her parents’ blessing. “We had to get married and his mother agreed,” the coach told Proto Thema newspaper.
The conservative government led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently introduced tougher penalties for sexual abusers and extended statute of limitations for child abuse. The Greek authorities have also created an online platform for reporting harassment in real time and have opened help lines for victims.
(ANSA).
.
Source From: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
