Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1243341
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 MAY 2020 OPINION Claudette Buttigieg The unheard screams of domestic violence Claudette Buttigieg is deputy Speaker and the Opposition spokesperson on equality THE coronavirus pandemic has turned all our lives upside down. For some of us, however, staying inside to 'keep safe' means risking a brutal danger. When victims of domestic vio- lence isolate themselves from so- ciety, they are also locking them- selves inside with their abuser. Shelters and NGOs working in the field have been telling me that they are very concerned. In the first three weeks of the pandemic restrictions in Malta reports had fallen. It is unlikely that the pandemic has coincided with a sudden reduc- tion in domestic abuse. More real- istically, the pandemic has made it difficult for victims to get help. Victims usually wait until the perpetrator is out of the house to call for help. Now that everyone is supposed to stay inside, victims are finding it close to impossible to make that life-saving call. The restrictions on social contact have cut victims off from another source of help. Social workers are not doing any home visits. While victims have become more exposed to their abusers, they have also become more financially de- pendent. Some have even lost the only source of what little income they had. Many women who are victims of domestic violence are not finan- cially independent to begin with. A significant number of those with a job have low incomes. Many only have a part-time job, so that they can take care of the children after school. Now the schools are closed. The women must take care of the chil- dren full-time while still trying to earn some much-needed cash. Sad- ly, many of these women have also lost their job due to the COVID-19 restrictions. This picture of despair is not unique to Malta. Writing in one of our local newspapers, the Com- monwealth Secretary-General, Pa- tricia Scotland, highlighted victims of domestic abuse as one of the groups disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Baroness Scot- land is reflecting a growing inter- national concern. Malta, however, has special cir- cumstances. The worsening condi- tions for domestic abuse are taking place against a background of insti- tutions that were already betraying the victims. Last month, the Constitution- al Court found the State guilty of failing to protect the human rights of a physically abused woman and her children. There were systemic shortcomings in police procedures, particularly in the investigation of the reports and complaints filed by the victim. Common decency obliges us to ask: If the State failed a victim in 'normal' circumstances, what is the State doing now to help victims of domestic violence – just when those victims are expected to stay at home, with their perpetrator, to protect the health of their family and society in general? Are the po- lice checking on the cases already informally known to them? The immediate need is to do all that is necessary to protect women in physical harm's way. In the months ahead, however, the gender inequalities of eco- nomic conditions and pay need to be addressed. We should do so in the name of equality, but also be- cause these inequalities help create the conditions in which vulnera- ble women cannot free themselves from abusive men. Once more, these long-term in- equalities are found elsewhere. Facebook's Chief Operating Of- ficer, Sheryl Sandburg, is taking the lead in highlighting how women have been disproportionately af- fected, economically, by the coro- navirus crisis. What this means is that Malta too must play its part in address- ing these disparities seriously. The authorities need to review their capacity to protect life and limb now. And they need to prepare for the post-crisis period. Economic recovery must include women as equals. It is only now, in the past few days, that there was a sudden spike in reports of domestic violence. I encourage those caught in this abu- sive web to pluck up courage and seek help. It is your right. It is the State's du- ty to guarantee it.