Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1185664
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2019 NEWS The Skinny No 10. Keith Schembri and 17 Black What are we skinning? The most recent twist in the Keith Schembri 17 Black saga: the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff's decision to withdraw a libel suit against former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to avoid being questioned about the offshore company 17 Black. Why are we skinning it? Schembri's involvement with 17 Black was one of the most persistent pressure points for the Nationalist Party to seize on in their ongoing attempts to undermine the validity of the Labour Party's economic success, and Schembri's decision to withdraw his libel suit to avoid questioning is bound to raise already-primed eyebrows even further up. But isn't 17 Black the subject of a magisterial inquiry anyway? Yes, and Schembri has made it very clear that he will be ready to answer all questions put to him during the inquiry itself. Still, and despite the inherent complexities of the case, appearing to 'dodge' questions on 17 Black is naturally not a good look in the current media landscape. Beyond the legalistic facts though, why has the 17 Black saga captured the 'public imagination' in such a strong and persistent way? It has most clearly revealed the fault- lines of the Labour government's partnership with the business community, and more specifically with the wunderkinds among its number, like Schembri himself. You're saying that a strong economy and shady deals go hand in hand? Not necessarily. But successful businessmen like Keith Schembri inevitably operate in a field whose checks and balances are different to those expected from politicians and their aides, so that the scenario reveals something of a 'clash of working cultures'. Which arguably also led to the courtroom comedy of errors we're witnessing right now… How do you mean? Well, think about it. In a sense, both Simon Busuttil and Keith Schembri appear to be fighting for each other's cases. Busuttil had wanted the libel proceedings against him to go through, while Schembri is more than happy for the magisterial inquiry – originally initiated by Busuttil – to go ahead. So it's a game of courtroom 'chicken'? Basically, yes. Do say: "Let's await the results of the magisterial inquiry to unfold, while remembering that bad optics or not, Keith Schembri was perfectly within his rights to withdraw the libel suit." Don't say: "Due process be damned! Keith Schembri is a crook/Simon Busuttil is a liar and we know it just by the look on their face/s!" Malta, shrunk down THERE were 214 cases of el- derly abuse reported to the po- lice in the first nine months of this year, figures tabled in Par- liament show. Domestic abuse accounted for more than half of these cases. But as shocking as this statistic may be, it comes as no surprise for Renee Laiviera, head of the National Com- mission for the Promotion of Equality. "I am not surprised that el- derly abuse is still so prevalent in Maltese society as the elderly tend to be reliant on those that abuse them and therefore are less likely to speak out," she said. The elderly made up roughly 20% of the population in 2018, according to the National Statistics Office. There were 89,517 persons in Malta aged 65 and over, with 55% being women. Malta is an ageing society much like other countries in the western hemisphere. This has prompted greater focus on the treatment of this vulner- able group but the taboo still has to be broken. Laiviera said support for the elderly had to be strength- ened. "We need to stop treat- ing elderly abuse as a taboo that we don't talk about. It was the same story with domestic abuse which we've only be- gun to talk about in the last 20 years – and even then, persons in places of power had told us 'how dare we?'." She said the next step was to empower victims to come for- ward. Although, she acknowl- edged that elderly persons lacked trust in third parties and were often too afraid to come forward even to family mem- bers. "Victims will only come for- ward if they believe in the sys- tem, and believe that if they do come forward they will receive the help they need and de- serve," Laiviera said. Criminologist Saviour For- mosa believes the figures re- lated to elderly abuse would be slightly lower than those reported since in many cases the numbers displayed would include any person in the room at the time the report was made. However, the figures tabled in Parliament by Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia are on par with past trend. In 2015, police inspector Sylvana Briffa had told Malta- Today that some 400 cases of abuse of the elderly had been reported between 2013 and 2014 which included bodily harm and domestic abuse. Briffa had warned that the abuse of the elderly tended to take place in their own home, with abusers often being adult children or family members like grandchildren, spouses or partners. An extensive study by the NCPE in 2015 revealed how 81% of perpetrators were either husbands or partners, while 16% were children and grand- children, and just 3% were wives. The study found that the ma- jority of abuse started during the ages of 20 and 30 and that most of the victims had been abused for many years. The study also found that 31% had suffered from psycho- logical and or emotional abuse, 30% suffered from neglect, 27% suffered from physical abuse, 25% from financial ma- nipulation and 20% from sexual abuse. The abuse in 35% of cases happened at home and in front of neighbours and close friends, whilst a significant 65% occurred solely at home behind closed doors and in front of children. The study found that not only was psychological and emo- tional abuse the most common form of abuse – it was the form of abuse that was the most like- ly to see both male and female victims equally. Laiviera said violence was in- excusable but called for more awareness on the difficulties faced by those who look after those in vulnerable positions. "One must understand that looking after the elderly isn't an easy job – carers also need to be given the support that will enable them to look after such a vulnerable group to the best of their ability. However, de- spite this, violence against any group, especially the elderly should not be condoned," she said. Laiviera said that more atten- tion needed to be given to the work-life balance of carers, as well as to elderly care in gen- eral. "From research, we know that a portion of the abuse and ne- glect comes from persons who are overloaded with work and are unable to cope. However, even if the abuse is coming from those that just have vio- lent tendencies, those persons also need to be given help," she added. With 214 cases of elderly abuse recorded until September, LAURA CALLEJA reports on a taboo aff licting an ageing society Shhh… don't talk about elderly abuse