Olympian Sofia Bekatorou spoke up about sexual abuse in sport and others followed suit in a #metiSofia movement, sparking Greece’s own #metoo as women from all walks of life remembered their own tales of abuse and misogyny.

Actress Zeta Douka spoke up about being verbally abused and kicked, when she was a young actress, working with actor/director George Kimoulis. This opened the floodgates to complaints by other actresses about the difficulties of collaborating with the talented but ‘violent’ director.

Alexandra Tavouliari said she had felt “terrorised” by him, Evdokia Roumelioti lost her voice and took pills to calm her nerves, Katerina Papoutsakis also had psychosomatic issues, Katerina Geronikolou said she stopped believing in herself and Fay Xyla called her time with Kimoulis a most difficult collaboration.

The director dismissed these women’s claims, stating it is the “fashion” for women to speak up 10-15 years following an incident, adding that someone truly offended by the actions of a colleague at work should lodge official complaints at the time of the incident. Dismissing the claims as preposterous he said that Ms Bekatorou’s noble act is now being exploited.

Why now? Why not then?

It took Bekatorou 23 years to break her silence, to put aside her ‘shame’ and speak up with confidence, causing women in Greece to relate, understand and seek their own courage when facing their buried, but not forgotten, #metoo moments. By starting the conversation on the scars women face years after being violated, Ms Bekatorou opened a Pandora’s Box, shedding light on endemic problems in Greek society.

While support was overwhelming, many asked “Why now?” when a better question would be “Why not then?”

Speaking to Marie Claire and during an online conference, she said that she had not initially spoken up about her experience for fear of hurting her career and dividing her team. She also worried that her parents would stop her from participating in sport, adding this punishment on to the trauma of rape. No doubt many thoughts were racing through the young woman’s mind as she tried to numb the feelings of ‘shame’ and ‘guilt’ felt by women abused through no fault of their own.

It was also 1998, a hard time for a sexually abused woman to speak up, especially in Greece.

Greek socialist prime minister Costas Simitis had just taken over from restless womaniser Andreas Papandreou, who died two years before and was marvelled in his lifetime for being a man who stood up to the Americans and Turks, danced the macho zembekiko and for doing what he damned well pleased. In his personal life, that meant having a string of mistresses and affairs, including an illegitimate Swedish daughter.

On the international scene Monicagate was the talk of the day, and the vilification and treatment of the young White House intern would not have been encouraging for young Bekatorou to open up.

She was not yet a revered Olympic icon but a young girl feeling the shame of sexual assault and powerless to stop the official who had violated his position.

Now a mother of two in a post-Epstein post-Weinstein world, her accusations are being taken seriously. The unanimous support she has received has prompted other female athletes to speak up against senior officials and team doctors, while the Thessaloniki University rector called on prosecutors to investigate multiple allegations of sexual harassment against a professor.

The time has come to address a problem hidden for far too long.

Zeta Douka was accused by her own alleged abuser of riding on the crest of a movement when pointing the finger at the emotional and physical abuse she felt.

Victims are finally talking, and instead of asking “Why now?” we should be stating “better late than never”.

It is time for Greece to enforce its strong constitutional guarantees for equality between men and women in the real world and not just on paper.

In cases of support and abuse, contact  1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732; Lifeline: 131 114; or Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636