Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1171146
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 SEPTEMBER 2019 3 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA REGARDLESS of Malta's perception of abortion, the inescapable reality is that "Maltese women are having abortions," ac- tivist and social policy academic Andrea Dibben said. Dibben said that despite the fact the major- ity of Maltese do not resonate with the call to legalise abortion, it was still important to highlight the struggles Maltese women face to due to the country's strict abortion laws. She was speaking to MaltaToday ahead of the first pro-choice rally that will be held on Saturday. "Malta's first Rally for Choice will serve to spread awareness of women's struggles, as well as combating the stigma and taboo against women who choose to have an abor- tion. Through the #MyAbortionMyHealth tag, we are coming together a global com- munity educate," Dibben said. Dibben said the event, which takes place on Saturday from 2pm onwards at Hastings Garden's, is the first-time Malta will be par- ticipating in a global movement for Interna- tional Safe Abortion Day. She highlighted that seven million women die every year because they do not have ac- cess to safe and legal abortions. "While I have never heard of a case in Mal- ta, where a woman has died due to a botched abortion – I have heard cases of women who suffer from health complications, which can follow them for the rest of their lives," she said. She is also concerned about the "sociologi- cal trauma" women in Malta face because they are forced to keep abortions a secret. "There are some women that don't feel comfortable telling their friends, or even family members. They end up travelling to foreign countries alone, with no moral sup- port. Abortions can lead to cramping and bleeding – these women are in a vulnerable position and unfortunately have no one to turn to," Dibben said. She added: "Thankfully now the Abortion Support Network can offer support to these women – but it's not the same as having a family member there." Dibben said that Maltese women also face other hurdles, such as having to come up with excuses to take time off work, finical difficulties, as well as finding child-minders when asking family members is out of the question. Dibben said that activities during the event will include a variety of art, music, drama, interviews and speeches which aim to appeal to a varied crowd including families, young people and adults. "We will also be joined by activists and academics from Ireland as well as Doctors for Choice, who will have a stand set up to hand-out information about safe abortion practices." She added that the rally was an indirect statement to the government. The cam- paign's main focus is on spreading aware- ness, but as a pro-choice group activists are constantly calling for the government to provide access to safe and legal abortions. "The only way to do that is to decriminal- ise it," she said, adding that the group strived "for a society based on equal respect and jus- tice, free from discrimination for all genders and minority groups". The rally will be hosted by 'Voice For Choice' – Malta's first-ever pro-choice coa- lition launched earlier this year in a bid to legalise abortion in Malta. The NGO, which is made up of a wide spectrum of organisations and individuals consistently campaigns for the decriminali- sation of abortion and advocating for laws which ensure that the health of pregnant people is protected in line with international human rights standards, through proper abortion care. "Maltese women are having abortions, that's the reality," pro-choice activist says CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Asked whether the problem could be bigger than the Chet- cuti Cauchi agency and involve other persons responsible for the citizenship application process, Farrugia Portelli said that the system would not allow for ma- nipulation in the vetting process. "It is only in the last stages [of the process] that people in poli- tics are involved," she said. "The process goes through four levels of due diligence vet- ting. I have no say in this. The scrutiny process takes place, and the IIP agency then makes its recommendations to the re- sponsible minister. "Each [citizenship application] file is vetted by the independent regulator, who was appointed through agreement by the gov- ernment and the Opposition." Pressed on whether a police investigation should be started - given that it appeared from the footage filmed by the French TV programme Enquête Exclusive that the agents involved could be using people in government to trade in influence - the par- liamentary secretary reiterated that she had no issue with any investigation. "I have no problem with any investigation by any person who feels they should investigate. My standing on the matter is clear. We have taken steps against the agent concerned. The pro- cess is transparent and there is a trail audit of every file which the agency deals with," she un- derlined. In terms of how long the in- vestigation by the regulator will take before reaching its conclu- sion, Farrugia Portelli did not give a specific timeframe, but said it wasn't something which should take years to be com- pleted. "I am informed the investi- gation is going to start, and I understand that it is not some- thing which should take years," she said. The government has faced calls by the Opposition to sus- pend the passport programme and initiate an inquiry. In a statement on Monday, the government refuted all claims of impropriety made in the docu- mentary, and welcomed the re- quest made by Arnold Cassola to Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to probe the matter. The police can initiate a crimi- nal investigation of their own accord but it is unclear whether this has been started. Pro-choice activist Andrea Dibben says "sociological trauma" women in Malta face because they are forced to keep abortions a secret Individual Investor Programme Application process goes through four levels of due diligence "Julia Farrugia, the parliamentary secretary in charge of the programme, is a childhood friend of my wife. It's good to have a wife with similar friends," one of the representatives of the Chetcuti Cauchi firm tells an undercover French journalist