Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1031063
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2018 NEWS LAUR A CALLEJA IN the past three months alone, four women have died, victims of domestic violence. The latest was 33-year-old Lourdes Agius. Experts are calling for Malta to take a hard look around and assess the environment that contin- ues to allow these senseless tragedies to happen. Anthea Agius D'Amico, the former chair of the Maltese Association of Social Work- ers, and currently a counsel- lor who deals with cases of domestic violence commented on the issue. "People often underestimate the effects power and control can have on people," she ex- plained. Ultimately at the route, abuse is about power and control; it's the way abusive individuals gain and continue to maintain their control over victims. These tactics are usually used to inflict physiological, physi- cal, sexual, or even finan- cial abuse. According to statis- tics from the Crime Malta Observatory. 2017 saw a dip of 1% for the first time since 2007, with 1,272 cases of domestic violence reported. Regardless of the dip, this still points to a 180% increase between 2008 which saw 450 reported cases, and 2017's previously mentioned figure. Professor Saviour Formosa explained, that the dip could be due to stabilisation. With numbers rising every year, stabilisa- tion was inevitable. As it stands, domes- tic violence remains one of the most re- ported areas, higher than bodily harm, which in 2017 had 879 reported cases. Agius D'Amico continued that, "people who face abusive behaviour during childhood are more at risk to end up in abusive relationships later on down the line." However, it's not just abuse in the tradi- tional sense. Harsh or aggres- sive parenting styles can leave children more vulnerable. Therefore, schools, need to set a zero tolerance policy in the way they tackle this sort of behaviour. Its important for children to feel there is a safe space for them to go within the community. The school must act as a media- tor of sorts between the par- ent and the child, thus giving them a unique opportunity to educate not only pupils, but the community itself, such as introducing alternative methods like non-aggressive solutions to problems. This is why the community plays such an essential role, not only in regards to fight- ing abuse at its core, but to spread information that help is readily available. Lara Dimitrijevic, director of Woman's Rights foun- dation stated that, "for all the effort put in, we are still scratching the surface of the problem." Change needs to starts with the community. It's already difficult for abuse victims to come for- ward. This is partly due to the level of shame victims feel, often having suffered through abuse for lengthy periods of time. So removing the stigma surrounding abuse from society is important. "We need to work harder to change the culture that al- lows it to happen," said Dimi- trijevic. Change and awareness is the clear message the WRF hoped to send when they marched through Valletta on Saturday. She stressed, "Fem- icide is preventable, if we get serious about it." According to Agius D'Amico, a way for- ward is to create specialised units within communi- ties. Here the gov- ernment will need to play a vital role. For it has a duty to provide spe- cialised care to victims, which will need to in- clude counsellors with ex- perience and training in this area. The government will also need to provide more expen- sive training to police offers, who are often the first port of call for victims. "The most important thing however is that help is avail- able to everyone regardless of nationality or status." Dead. Killed by husbands, relatives, and their partners... because they are women LOURDES AGIUS • SHANNON MAK • MARIA CARMELA FENECH AND ANTONIA MICALLEF • ELEANOR MANGION • CAROLINE MAGRI • SILVANA MUSCAT • MERYEM BUGEJA • MARGARET MIFSUD • YVETTE GAJDA • KAREN CHEATLE • IRENA ABADZHIEVA • CHRISTINE SAMMUT • CATHERINE AGIUS • LYUDMILA NYKYTIUK • DORIS SCHEMBRI PATRICIA ATTARD • JOSETTE SCICLUNA • PAULINE TANTI • RACHEL MUSCAT • VANESSA GRECH AND 17-MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER AILEY • JANE VELLA • SYLVIA KING • DIANE GERADA • ROSE CASALETTO • Since 1981, 24 women have been murdered by men who were their husbands, lovers, and relatives. Is Malta dealing with a femicide problem? Lara Dimitrijevic Saviour Formosa 1992 Yvette Bonnici, 24. Killed in her Paola apartment, along with her 19-month-old son, by John Polidano and Silvio Pace. 1993 Sylvia King, 36. Burnt alive in a car in the limits of Rabat, by Joseph Harrington, the estranged husband of a domestic violence victim she had been helping at the time. 1993 Diane Gerada, 34. Stabbed to death by her husband Grazio Gerada. 1997 Anna Kok Spiteri, 44. Stabbed multiple times by her brother-in- law, Salvu Gauci, while walking the streets of Hamrun with her husband. 1998 Lucy Schembri, 82. Murdered in her Msida house. 1999 Jane Vella, 24. Murdered by her husband Ronald Vella. Her body was never recovered. Vella's case marks the first of its kind, as the trial went ahead and he was subsequently found guilty without the body ever having been found. 1999 Maria Vella, 72. Shot in the neck by her brother Francis Buhagiar. She died on the spot. 2003 Josette Scicluna, 34. Stabbed to death by ex-partner David Schembri, in front of their seven- year-old daughter in San Gwann. 2009 Lyudmila Nykytiuk, 35. The Ukrainian woman fell down a shaft after an argument and was left to die by husband Sergeii Nykytiuk in St Paul's Bay. She ultimately bled to death. 2009 Catherine Agius, 40. Stabbed to death by her estranged husband Roger Agius as she stepped off the bus in Tarxien. 2009 Maria Theresa Vella, 62. Stabbed to death by her daughter's former partner Clive Farrugia in Cospicua. 2010 Christine Sammut, 40. Shot and killed by former partner Kenneth Gafa in Mgarr. 2011 Karen Chealte, 54. Found dead in bed at her home in Mellieha. It is suspected that John Agius, Chealte's partner drowned her, before killing himself. 2011 Irena Abazheiva, 30. The Bulgarian woman was found stabbed to death by her former partner Mustafa Kosurgeli in Bugibba. 2012 Margaret Mifsud, 31. Suffocated in her car by her ex husband Nizar el Gadi in Bahar ic-Caghaq. 2012 Yvette Gajda, 38. The Hungarian woman was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, Laszlo Marton in St Paul's Bay. 2015 Silvana Muscat, 36. Stabbed to death in St Paul's Bay by Hamid Nour Eddine G. Ibrahim, who fled the country. 2018 Maria Carmela Fenech and Antonia Micallef, 71 and 74: Both stabbed to death by Fenech's son in Gharghur. 2018 Shanon Mark, 30. The Dutch woman had her throat slit by her ex boyfriend Jelle Rijpma in a street in Santa Venera. 2018 Lourdes Agius, 35. Strangled by her partner, Michael Emmanuel, and found dead in Paola. "Femicide is preventable, if we get serious about it"