#MeToo Movement in Greece Resurges After Testimony by Olympic Athlete

Olympic sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou’s speaking out regarding her past experiences with sexual abuse is leading to a revival of Greece’s #MeToo movement.

A view of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Christophe Meneboeuf. CC-BY-SA 3.0

Forty-three-year-old Greek sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou rose to international acclaim after winning an Olympic gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and four World Championships in Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and Spain. Recently, however, she is making headlines for speaking out about her past experiences with sexual abuse in the competitive sports arena. Her brave actions sparked a national #MeToo movement with support from politicians, athletes and social media followers across Greece. 

 Bekatorou’s Experience with Sexual Abuse

A boat at sea. Snappygoat.com. CC0

Bekatorou was sexually abused in 1998 when she went abroad for the Olympic qualifiers in Sydney. A member of the Hellenic Sailing Federation raped her when she was 21. According to Bekatorou, “He said he would stop if I wanted him to, but he didn’t stop, no matter what I said. When he finished and got up from on top of me, I left the room ashamed and in tears.” Her case remained silenced for 20 years as she began to succeed in the sport. As Bekatorou resisted her abuser’s advances, she received pushback from the sailing federation, making it more difficult to excel. She stated that, “The more successful I became, the more they fought me. While I didn’t have such great success, no one was afraid I would acquire much of a voice.”

Greek athlete Sofia Bekatorou. Mihrou. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0

Bekatorou’s Testimony and Aftermath

Bekatorou had the opportunity to raise her voice when the government asked athletes to comment on a proposed sports reform bill in 2019. In November of that year, she denounced her rape publicly for the first time. Although Bekatorou did not expect to reach a large audience since she spoke at a small online conference, the sailing federation began responding with allegations the next day. Her testimony resulted in a wave of support from fans with #metisofia (on Sofia’s side) and #MeToo trending on social media. In addition to her testimony, Bekatorou sent a letter to World Sailing signed by fellow Olympians and coaches calling out a “wretched situation” and demanding fair elections to overhaul the existing board of the organization. 

In addition to support from her fans, Bekatorou has also received the backing of Greek politicians, including Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and female President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who stated that Bekatorou’s actions “dissolved a conspiracy of silence” in Greece, where sexual assault cases are notoriously underreported. 

A Greek parliamentary session. Pasok. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0

Groundbreaking Changes in Greek Sports and Politics

Since her testimony, Vice President Aristeidis Adamopoulos of the Hellenic Sailing Federation, her alleged abuser, has resigned from his position. He refuses to acknowledge any instance of abuse, stating that his only reason for resigning is to spare the federation any negative publicity. Greece has also banned about half of the country’s 10,000 sports clubs from voting in upcoming sports federation elections due to concerns regarding “sexual and financial misconduct.” Although Bekatorou’s case has passed the 20-year statute of limitations period, politicians are considering an extension of it. There are rising movements to increase prison sentences for sex offenders and to address sexual abuse cases more frequently, but the long-term effects of the #MeToo movement’s surge are not yet known. 

Women from across Greece are beginning to come forward regarding their harrowing experiences with sexual abuse. These women include sailing champion Marina Psychogyiou, water polo player Mania Bikof, world champion swimmer Rabea Iatridou and Cypriot Olympic shooter Andri Eleftheriou. Additionally, widespread sexual abuse cases at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in northern Greece are making headlines, with over 100 complaints filed about a single professor in the last 30 years. Although Greece is making strides toward gender equality with legislation passed in 2010, the country is far behind other European Union members in this regard. 

Sofia Bekatorou’s heroism serves as an inspiration to sexual abuse survivors and women around the world. Only time will tell whether her actions lead to social change in Greece and beyond. 

Megan Gürer

Megan is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.

In Romania, 500 Days of Silence Mark Movement Against Corruption

For citizens of tiny Sibiu, Romania, “watchful eyes” nestled in the city’s roofs have become a symbol of ongoing protest.

Houses with eyes in Sibiu. lucianf. CC BY 2.0

Each day at noon, in the picturesque little city of Sibiu, the red-shingled roofs and the protestors silently assembled in the streets send the same message to the corrupt government of Romania: We are watching you.

Visitors to Sibiu take note of the standard Central European attributes: the quaint, historic architecture, punctuated by the Gothic Lutheran cathedral, whose steeple looms high into the sky; the houses clinging to the bank of the river Cibin, which winds lazily down from the main waterway of Olt. But they are likely to do a double-take upon noticing the ever-watchful Sibiu eyes—narrow windows rising up from the city’s roofs, giving the impression of a perpetual half-lidded gaze. Originally designed to ventilate attics where meat, cheese, and grain were stored while keeping the harsh sunlight out, the eyes have become a potent symbol of Romania’s anti-corruption movement—specifically, a grassroots organization called V Vedem din Sibiu, or “we are watching you from Sibiu.”

V Vedem din Sibiu came about in December 2017, when the government moved to shift judiciary statutes in a way that was widely regarded as tightening state control over judges and undermining the National Anticorruption Directorate. The attempt further inflamed tensions ignited at the beginning of the year, when the ruling Social Democrat party (PSD) decriminalized a range of corruption offenses, triggering Romania’s most sizable street protest since the fall of communism in 1989. The emergency ordinance—which, among other stipulations, dropped charges of official misconduct in cases where the financial damage did not exceed 200,000 lei ($47,000)—passed at 10 p.m. local time; by midnight, more than 10,000 infuriated citizens had taken to the streets in the capital of Bucharest, and around 10,000 in other cities across Romania.

Anti-corruption protesters in Bucharest. Paul Arne Wagner. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Corruption is considered a serious problem in Romania, and the country’s fragile political state is exacerbated by its status as one of the European Union’s newest and poorest members, leaving citizens concerned for their rights and constantly at the ready to mount a protest. In the years and months since the events of 2017, Romania has seen ongoing organizing against corruption and in support of judicial independence, and the government has endured criticism from the European Commission, the U.S. state department, and the centrist president and National Liberal Party leader, Klaus Iohannis, who has made strong calls for governmental transparency. In January 2018, approximately 50,000 Romanians marched towards parliament in Bucharest, waving flags, contending with riot police, and raising raucous chants of “Thieves!” And in August of that year, up to 100,000 members of the Romanian diaspora descended on Bucharest to protest the PSD—an event that took a violent turn when police deterred marchers with tear gas and water cannons.

Anti-corruption protesters in Bucharest. Paul Arne Wagner. CC BY 2.0

Relative to the chaotic, overwhelming tableau of the ongoing demonstrations in Bucharest, the soundless walkouts occurring daily in Sibiu present a stark contrast. This July, the Sibiu protesters commemorated their 500th day gathering in the city center, sacrificing their lunch breaks or school recesses to stand in silence outside the headquarters of the PSD. “Those 15 minutes every day, it is like a flame that never goes out,” said Ciprian Ciocan, one of the founders of V Vedem din Sibiu, in an interview with The Guardian. “Somebody knows that there are still people in Sibiu, no matter whether it rains or snows or whatever.”

Ciocan posts live videos of the protests on V Vedem din Sibiu’s Facebook page, where they reach more than 20,000 followers. During the events of December 2017, allies from around the world sent in more than 68 versions of the Sibiu eyes—scrawled on walls and scraps of paper, carved into sand at the seashore, inscribed with branches laid on fresh snow, from Berlin to Chicago to Kuala Lumpur. Though the initial tide of eyes has slowed, the page continues to share media coverage of the protests along with its regularly scheduled live videos. The “about” section defines the sit-in as a form of protest, stating, “We are protecting the values and principles in which we strongly believe, the state of law and the independence of Justice.”

Sibiu. Camelia TWU. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In May of this year, under pressure from the EU and overwhelming dissent from Romanian voters, the PSD abandoned some of its most controversial measures. Even more devastating for the party was their loss of seats in European Parliament elections and the departure of the PSD leader, Liviu Dragnea, who was jailed on May 27 and is expected to serve a three-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.

Despite small steps in the right direction, however, citizens remain on high alert. “There are many other dangers,” Bianca Toma of the Romanian Centre for European Policies told The Guardian. “There are still things to be undone and it’s a matter of fact, not just [making] statements.” And in Sibiu, the ongoing protests have had little impact on the PSD, whose workers drew the blinds when sit-ins began and issued a statement accusing the activists of “aggressive” behavior. Still, like clockwork, citizens will keep turning out in the streets, and the watchful eyes will keep gazing from Sibiu’s rooftops, waiting for a day when Romanians at home and abroad can live without fear of corruption.







TALYA PHELPS hails from the wilds of upstate New York, but dreams of exploring the globe. As former editor-in-chief at the student newspaper of her alma mater, Vassar College, and the daughter of a journalist, she hopes to follow her passion for writing and editing for many years to come. Contact her if you're looking for a spirited debate on the merits of the em dash vs. the hyphen.