Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1060184
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 DECEMBER 2018 INTERVIEW the so-called 'Four Ps': Preven- tion, Protection, Prosecution and Policies. As commissioner I attend inter-ministerial meet- ings, for example, and meet with all the stakeholders: Ap- pogg, Caritas, the social wel- fare departments, and so on… speaking of which, I also think we need to broaden the list of stakeholders. A case in point is the education sector. Guidance and Counselling services are al- ready represented; but I would like to see the people who draft the national curriculum at those meetings, too; so that we can talk about what needs to be done in schools. After all, they will ulti- mately have to revise the curric- ulum. In fact, we are already in preliminary talks, and should be meeting soon. Meanwhile, I feel strongly that we need to work hardest with young schoolchil- dren. We could introduce them to concepts through the school curriculum… instead of just an occasional PSD lesson about 'violence' or 'gender' here and there. But some people might be concerned at the idea of exposing 'young schoolchildren' to concepts such as gender-based violence… That's not our aim, however. We want to talk about domes- tic violence, yes, but without mentioning 'domestic vio- lence'. Last week, for example, we brought an expert to ad- dress an ITS foundation class of 15/16-year-olds… he didn't talk to them about violence; he spoke about respect, and equal- ity between the sexes. It's a posi- tive approach. And of course, the method will vary between a class of six and 16-year-olds. We have to start at a young age, but it doesn't mean we ignore the older children who 'missed out' in kindergarten. We're try- ing as much as possible to tar- get all the age-groups, with ap- proaches that are appropriate to the different ages. In other countries, for instance, these concepts might be introduced even during a maths lesson: it doesn't have to be one hour re- served only for PSD. I would like to see the same approach taken by our own curriculum. And when I say 'I', I don't mean my- self alone. I never go to meetings alone. I have to have the support of both the board, and the sec- retariat. Here I have to mention Katya Unah, for instance, who worked so hard on our national strategy document… Would you say the institutional set-up, as it stands, is sufficient to address the sort of problems it caters for? My impression – not just in the case of domestic violence – is that Maltese governments tend to traditionally rely on the voluntary sector, instead of providing the services themselves. Would you say this is true of social services connected with domestic violence? I wouldn't agree, as govern- ment agencies like Appogg do a lot of sterling work, with the limited resources they have. But in a general sense, it is true that governments – all govern- ments, in case what I say gets interpreted politically – have always relied a lot on voluntary or Church-run services. The way I see it, we have a system which used to work well in the past. But in future – especially with the crisis in vocations: not just in the Ecclesiastic sense, but also in the voluntary sector – I do see the need that govern- ments will have to have their own structures in place. Not that I expect it to happen in my own term; but it is something I feel strongly about. Especially, when it comes to children's in- stitutions. Here we have to be careful, however. Government does provide some services for children; but definitely not enough. But the concept of an 'institute' has also changed. We're no longer talking about 'homes' for children… or the el- derly, for that matter. We have to revise our policy approaches, as well as the individual struc- tures themselves. Meanwhile, there is also talk of a shortage of social workers. Is this true, and if so, to what extent? It's serious enough to be called a crisis. At least, I think so. We definitely need more social workers. We need to talk about creating incentives, so that more students graduate in social sciences from univer- sity. There are issues we need to face. From what I've heard, the pay might not be attrac- tive enough… though it has been increased recently. But it's not just about money. For let's face it: to work everyday in that environment… I myself am already affected by it. There are times when you get down, hearing about so many terrible cases. People who work in the field tell me that sometimes they need a therapy session themselves. So it's important that we look after our social workers; value them more, pro- vide the necessary resources, as well as encourage more people to get involved. We also need to protect them. They are the ones working in the field; and this is a field where the pro- tection of the social worker is important. One of the things we've been told by a visiting trainer, for example, is that we need to create safe working environments, where no social worker, at any point in time, ever feels alone or threatened. We need to have the necessary structures in place. It's one of the things we are working on right now… Coming back to criticism of your appointment: has it affected the way you approach your job? To be honest, I do get de- moralised… and I have had thoughts about quitting. But I feel I also have to say it would be very unfair on all the people who now depend on me; and who may have seen, in me, a ray of hope that… [pause] be- cause I do listen to people; the social and educational aspect have always been part of my work. It was always the role I took as a journalist. I was never a financial person; don't give me financial stories, because they mean nothing to me. But I do feel, where people and ani- mals get hurt. In fact, I feel so much, that I make them my own problems, when some- times, quite frankly, perhaps I shouldn't… appointment… What I can say, from my own experience, is that things are tougher for women, no doubt about it PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES BIANCHI