Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1031063
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 SEPTEMBER 2018 INTERVIEW roles. Not everyone, naturally: there are men who do their fair share of housework, there are men who support their part- ners in their careers, and so on. But we can't say that 'patriar- chy' is dead. That is where the problem lies: you can change as many laws as you like; you can open shelters, and offer sensitiv- ity training to the police. All this has been done, and it is all very positive. I'm not criticising the changes that have been made, far from it. But all the same, the idea that a 'man's place' and a 'woman's place' are differ- ent, still persists. It will take a lot more to eradicate it. Part of the problem is that it sets in at a very young age: and it comes from all angles. There's the fam- ily, the media, the Church, the school... all consciously or un- consciously relaying the same overall message. Boys are boys, girls are girls. We are now much more conscious of the inequal- ity, but we still tend to reinforce the stereotype: a teacher might tell a small boy, 'Why are you crying like a girl? Boys don't cry...' They might even mean well in the end, but it all adds to the same culture. To be honest, I don't think it is even possible to completely eradicate. This does not happen just in Malta. It happens even in countries we tend to look up at for their social models, like northern Eu- rope, for instance. In fact, some of the recent femicide cases – including the latest – involved mixed nationality partnerships: and in one recent case, both victim and suspect were Dutch. This has given rise to the argument (from the far right) that immigration is a key factor in such cases. How do you react to that argument? Violence does not have any race, class or creed. If you look at Malta's domestic abuse re- cord, you will see women from all sorts of different social back- grounds. You will see Maltese men abusing women; and you will people of different national- ities being either the abuser, the victim, or both. Fine. The most you can say is that there may be a slight cultural difference between individual cases: the murder method might vary, or maybe even the motive. There may be certain specific cultural expectations that are different. But these are details: the record doesn't suggest any correlation with the incidence of domes- tic violence, and nationality. If it seems to, it may be because of under-reporting: most cases were not previously reported, partly for social reasons – which are just as applicable today – and partly also because the legal mechanisms to protect victims were not in place. Besides, we can also talk of perceived differ- ences between different social backgrounds, as much as dif- ferent nationalities. Domestic violence is generally associated with the working class in the psyche of the populace, after all. There is a perception that wom- en from higher social strata feel more comfortable reporting do- mestic violence, because they feel more socially 'protected', so to speak. But it can just as easily work the other way round: their social status may prevent them from reporting for fear of scan- dal or stigma. These are all gen- eralisations, and ultimately you can't generalise too much. And besides, even if such differenc- es do exist... it doesn't change the fact that women are being murdered. How to prevent that from happening, I think, should be the focus of the discussion. It seems to be easier said than done. As already discussed, legal changes in themselves don't seem to have had a direct effect. What does that leave us with? The main issue is gender in- equality across the entire so- cial spectrum. We can look at measures to prevent indi- vidual cases – provided they have been reported – and we can take generic preventative measures such as providing alternative shelters for pro- tection. In fact, we already do both. But even here, we might not be doing enough. Perhaps we need to revise our approach in order to maximise the effi- cacy of our response to emer- gency situations; to ensure that reported cases get all the at- tention and priority they need, and so on. This is all important and necessary, and it should be done. But it treats the symp- toms, not the cause. It doesn't address the underlying culture of patriarchy. As I said before, it may not be possible to totally eradicate, but a lot can be done to sensitise people to the issue. This is where I think feminism has an important role to play. Feminism in Malta has been dormant for many years, but recently we have seen feminist groups sprouting again, thank- fully. Feminist groups are im- portant to debunk the myth that feminism is redundant, just be- cause women have made some progress in certain areas; as well as to put or to keep certain is- sues on the political agenda: such as prostitution, reproduc- tive rights and violence against women. Specifically, however, feminism is important because it challenges the dominant tra- ditionalist views of gender roles in society. This is where change is needed most. You are yourself a member of a feminist group: '8th March 365'. Would you explain the aims of this group, as well as the name? The group itself is a branch within Moviment Graffitti, which sort of emerged from the 8th March activities of this year. That is also where it got its name: originally, it was '8th March every day'. The group is a space for its members to share experiences and con- cerns related to women such as domestic violence, gender roles, the expectations tied to motherhood and whatever else is brought up. We learn from each other and we sensitise each other to feminist ideas. The group generally embraces a leftist ideology and is more in line with radical feminism, although there is of course di- vergence of opinion within the group. At times we collabo- rate with other groups such as Women's Rights Foundation, Arc Rainbow Communities, MGRM's Women Space and Men Against Violence. The aim is to disseminate the feminist message to others through dif- ferent activities such as discus- sions, film fora, participation in open mic readings and so on. We believe that in order to ad- dress patriarchy, one needs to sensitise people (both women and men, boys and girls) to the issue of gender equality and so- cial justice. There are so many levels that one needs to work on: education, media, social. We have a lot of work to do. symptom, not a cause