On this International Women’s Day, we are reminiscing of the words of Constantine Yannopoulos, a pioneer in tax law and co-founder of the practice which would later become Zepos & Yannopoulos. Constantine Yannopoulos was a man ahead of his time, when in 1975, he published a critique in the Greek weekly WOMAN regarding the drafting of Greece’s new constitution, following the fall of the Greek military junta. The constitution of 1975 established, for the first time, in the country the principle of equal treatment and gender equality.
Among others, Yannopoulos noted that active citizenship – irrespective of gender – should play a paramount role in the way policies are drafted, and that, advocating for one’s rights needs to include a collaborative bottom-up approach.
“Sooner or later the time will come for the decriminalization of abortion, both for her who decides to get an abortion, as well as for the person who assists with it. The right of women to give birth if and when they desire has to be finally recognized,” he wrote. [Abortion was finally legalized in Greece in 1986.]
As we look ahead, to achieve greater equity, we need to consider how we lend our power, our privilege and our access towards creating a safe, inclusive and collaborative environment to the best of our ability.
The complete article from 1975 is available in Greek here.