Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1174220
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 OCTOBER 2019 NEWS CAREER OPPORTUNITY Professional Officer (Data Harmonisation and Standardisation) The role requires a person to support and maintain processes and services for spatial information, data sharing and harmonisation which will assist the Authority in meeting its business goals. The person is required to have: Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree recognized by the NCFHE (MQF Level 6) in GIS/IT Systems or an area with a significant content of GIS/IT. Alternatively if no bachelor's degree is held, a Master's Degree recognized by the NCFHE (MQF Level 7) in GIS/IT Systems or an area with a significant content of GIS/IT. Candidates are to present scanned copies of all qualifications with their application. Candidates who are in possession of foreign qualifications are to present proof of MQF Level equivalence with their application. Experience: Minimum of two years experience in ICT or Geographic Information Systems development and support, after graduating. Be conversant with INSPIRE-specific systems analysis and database design for geographic datasets and related information. The above post is for an indefinite period. Interested candidates are advised to submit their application, together with a detailed curriculum vitae to: The Human Resources Manager Planning Authority Ref: Professional Officer (Data Harmonisation and Standardisation) Jobsplus Permit Number: 577/2019 or via email: jobapplications@pa.org.mt. For further information visit our website: https://www.pa.org.mt/en/vacancies Closing Date: 09th October 2019 JOIN OUR TEAM www.pa.org.mt PLANNING AUTHORITY Teachers' unions bemoan situation LAURA CALLEJA THE sentencing of perpetrators of vio- lent crimes against women has been wanting, as the court of public opinion reels from news of a suspended sentence for a sex offender. While the cases have been many, only last week a convicted sex offender had his 18-month prison sentence suspend- ed on appeal: the offender had chased his victim down, having refused his ad- vances, and then beat her up and tore off her clothes. The assault ended only when passers-by intervened. Despite Madam Justice Consuelo Scer- ri Herrera agreeing that the offender was guilty – confirming the findings of the Court of Magistrates – she disagreed with the punishment and imposed a lighter sentence. In her 57-page decision on the appeal, Consuelo Scerri cited the offender's age – he had been 20 at the time – as a reason, and that the offender had no previous criminal record. But a spokesperson for the Commis- sion on Gender-based Violence and Domestic Violence said that it was left concerned by the decision to lessen the offender's sentence. "The commission is of the impression that offenders who commit these crimes should serve a prison sentence that is effective." The commission said it was important to send a clear message to society that violence towards women should not be tolerated. "The commission hopes that future judgements within our courts better reflect the recent changes that have been put into law, and include increased penalties that serve to deter people from committing these crimes." Yet lawyer Michael Sciriha, who did not comment on the case specifically, argued that despite the perception of the public, the judiciary was, in fact, sensitive to cases involving violence against women. "I do think the judiciary is sensitive to these sorts of cases, but you have to un- derstand, that it is never easy or clean cut. When you're talking about cases of assault, rape, domestic abuse and so on, there are many mitigating factors that have to be taken into consideration," Sciriha said. Sciriha told MaltaToday that in such cases the judiciary tends to take a cau- tious approach. "A lot of it has to do with credibility. In fact, in the majority of cases, there is a lot of back and forth between what one person has said, and what the other person is claiming has happened." Sciriha said often cases are further complicated by the fact that the of- fender and the accused would have been romantically intertwined. "Sometimes things can go sour, and because of that, there could be vindictiveness involved… there have also been cases to do with consent where one person says they were given consent, however, the other person denies it. All of this needs to be taken into consideration by the judge – which is why they proceed with cau- tion." Sciriha, however, disagrees that court sentencing was lax. "Believe me, I've seen some very harsh sentences over the years – people see a judgement on a piece of paper, but there are a lot of factors that go into making that final decision, such as taking into the consideration witness testimony. "One might think foreigners tend to get heavier sentences, but that's usually because those cases tend to be very clear cut… the judiciary always tries its best to hand out fair sentences," he said. But the Commissioner for the Promo- tion of Equality, Renee Laiviera, told MaltaToday that she disagreed, saying the rapist's lenient sentence on appeal carried weight not only on how women perceive the justice system, but also on how society as a whole saw the justice system. "We know these sentences send a mes- sage: to the victims, to society and to the offenders, that is a fact. Women are giv- en the impression that there is no point coming forward, if they felt receiving justice was not an option. What message would it send to the victims if offenders' lives were not changed for the worse in any way? "Sentences like these have men walk- ing out of courtrooms thinking 'well I did it, but nothing bad happened to me'. This will have a serious effect on how other men perceive this issue. It will val- idate in their mind that it is not as seri- ous of an issue as some people are mak- ing it out to be, and ultimately will leave them with an impression that they can, in fact, get away with it with it," Laiviera insisted. And she adds a warning: that this kind of cases can have a dire, holistic effect that bleeds into every aspect of society. "This affects the way we bring up our children – it will teach them that these things are acceptable." Shock over light sentence in sexual assault Sentences like these have men walking out of courtrooms thinking 'well I did it, but nothing bad happened to me' - equality czar Renée Laiviera THE Union of Professional Educators (UPE) marked Edu- cators' Day yesterday by taking on assertions by finance minis- ter Edward Scicluna that Malta was not suffering from a teach- ers' shortage. UPE Executive Head Graham Sansone said educators across the board were being forced to take on extra responsibilities to cope with the lack of staff, and accused Scicluna of being de- tached from reality. "Education minister Evarist Bartolo him- self has already acknowledged that there were less teachers than necessary." Sansone criticised the school transport supervision system, which left teachers and Learn- ing Support Educators (LSEs) facing an increasing burden of responsibility – particularly where disabled students who required individual attention were concerned – all without commensurate compensation. "We went to the ministry but all we found were closed doors. They are not acknowledging the problems." He thanked educators who spent time away from their families, correcting and pre- paring resources for their stu- dents, despite not being paid well enough. "Some educa- tors are paying out of pocket for teaching resources such as cardboard, stationery and dec- orations… Student teachers on teaching practice are spending up to €300 from their stipend on these resources," Sansone said, calling for a pro-rata sal- ary system to be introduced for these students. Particularly bad was the min- istry's treatment of trainers, who are precariously engaged as self-employed persons on €11.75 per hour, without vaca- tion or sick leave, Sansone said. "It's shameful." The union argued that a com- mittee should be appointed to address the teacher shortage and the diminishing respect for the teaching profession. In a statement, Malta Union of Teachers president Marco Bonnici also said that securty in schools remained a major issue as educational authorities had not yet allocated the required number of educators to carry out supervision before and af- ter school hours. "This seemingly cost-cutting exercise is leaving the most vul- nerable students unsupervised. Apart from this, our appeal is once again being made for measures to increase proper se- curity in schools before similar accidents to the ones we had in the past years."