Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1441473
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JANUARY 2022 NEWS 'Justice elusive as long as police do not treat abuse on women seriously' LAURA CALLEJA Malta's implementation of the Istanbul Convention in 2018 has not yet had any resulting effects on the scale of violence against women, a new report on femi- cide in Malta has revealed. The country report compiled by the University of Malta and the Women's Rights Foundation said Malta's societal character remained heavily framed by pa- triarchy as seen clearly in the social attitudes, gender roles and male-dominated discourse in everyday life. "The mentality is driven by gender stereotypes, especial- ly the roles men and women should play in the family and in society," the report said. The report says that men re- main the "public body" while women are seen as the private body, a state hindering women who experienced and are survi- vors of gender-based violence, to access help and assistance. "The primacy of the family is still quite dominant within Maltese society, and this acts as a barrier to women leaving an abusive relationship, especially due to the assumed 'wellbeing' of the children. "If the police do not consider abuse by a man on a woman to be such a serious matter, then their actions to 'help and sup- port' or to facilitate 'justice' will reflect their attitudes. The same would apply to the courts. These social conditions, among others, do not mitigate against the risk of femicide." In 2020, 1,645 domestic vio- lence cases were reported, all being women, indicating an in- crease of around 24% of domes- tic violence reported cases from 2019. Emergency shelters also re- ported a slight decrease in the number of families being admit- ted to the shelter, particularly during the onset of the lock- down period in March 2020. In 2015, Malta's chief pathol- ogist issued a statement high- lighting that in the last five years, 25% of all homicide victims were victims of femicide by a partner or ex-partner. The report also highlighted that one in seven women are exposed to physical or sexual vi- olence from young ages, with at least 23% suffering physical, sex- ual or psychological abuse prior to the age of 15. "Over the span of 10 years, reported cases of domestic vio- lence have increased in number, and it is suggested that part of the reason behind such an in- crease for Malta was the increase in the population as well as the increase in awareness among the general population, leading to more people reporting." The rate of reporting also in- creased from 203 per 100,000 population to 318 per 100,000 population, which is approxi- mately a 56% increase. During the same period, the population increased by around 23%. The report said that an in- crease in reporting was because of a shift in focus on a national level domestic violence which has become a more serious issue. "On the other hand, a constant factor remained clear, women were still being killed, and the majority of them were killed as a result of intimate partner vio- lence," it said. The report added that the data showed that women had been killed mainly by an ex-husband or ex-partner, and the perpe- trators have always been male. "This also highlights the issue of gender, that more women are killed by men than vice-versa." It said that even though, over the years, preventive measures Violence against women has not decreased since implementing of the Istanbul Convention, report finds Domestic violence reports Agenzija Appogg, domestic violence unit 2019 2020 Total cases 1,324 2,321 Individuals 1,300 2,220 Ghabex Shelter 2019 2020 Total cases 37 41 Individuals 36 39 Malta Police Force 2019 2020 Total cases 1,326 1,645