Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1448619
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 FEBRUARY 2022 OPINION The perfect storm FOLLOWING the assassination and rape of Paulina Dembska, the 29-year-old Polish student and cat feeder living in Malta, the Faculty for Social Wellbeing immediately is- sued a statement condemning the 'culture' of misogyny that sweeps our communities and has created, together with other variables, the perfect conditions for yet another femicide. As the statement we issued goes, "it is a harsh reminder that today, in the 21st centu- ry, there is still an urgent need to build equal- ity between men and women in the Maltese islands and to eradicate the gender stereo- types which are the source of inequality and gender-based violence, including femicide." The defensive stance that a number of men are taking is uncalled for and was the subject of a debate during my radio show on 103 Mal- ta's Heart on Saturday. As Dr Lara Dimitri- jevic, lawyer and Dr Marceline Naudi, senior lecturer, both long-time women rights activ- ists, have claimed, the patriarchal male-dom- inated society we are immersed in is creating the perfect storm. What they said is very much in line with what was quoted in the press release that; "[we] are calling for an end to the gen- der-motivated killing of women and spot- lighting this important issue on a national platform". I think that men instead of taking a self-jus- tifying position should focus more on be- coming part of the movement. They should be about empathising and actively contrib- uting to change whilst being auto-reflective, engaging actively in deconstructing this em- bedded culture of misogyny, coercion, sexist prejudice, violence and the general oppres- sion of women very much like the movement Men Against Violence. This unique organi- sation in Malta has provided incessantly to the cause. Not only. The truth of the matter is that we cannot afford to wait passively for another horrific situation to unfold for us to realise that we are not out of the woods. 'Dedicat- ing' some moments to talk about this situa- tion until the next clickable news-item pops- up is an insult to the victims. What is needed is decisive action. We also need to re-think our social and public policy, strengthen our legislative in- frastructure (and its enforcement), improve the reactive police intervention, develop more reporting tools for potential victims, invest in research, improve our service pro- vision, mend our unfitting use of language, have more politicians speak about this issue, heal our media reporting, to name just a few. But I believe that the key elements at the heart of the much-needed transformation need to be the following. First and foremost, it is imperative that we have the validation and recognition of the voice of the grassroots. NGOs are at the heart of what is happening and are continually present as they are sup- porting so many women. Secondly, we need the courage to invest in converging the ef- forts of all the stakeholders involved in this issue; government services, politicians, policy makers, NGOs, activists and victims. Thirdly, with all the good intentions, entities working separately is not a good omen. Strength lies in the collective. All of this should be complimented with: "Awareness-raising, community mobilisa- tion, educational programmes, and support for children and young people are essential to ensure that the needs of potential victims and the threat of potential perpetrators are not falling on deaf ears or slipping through the net of existing services." In its statement the Faculty goes on to say that: "Gender-motivated killings of wom- en are an assault on universal human rights and seriously undermine human dignity. Pre- venting all forms of violence against women requires the engagement of all segments of society, most especially the sustained partic- ipation of men and boys as partners in build- ing more respectful relationships throughout our Maltese society." But I feel that the assassination of Paulina is exceptional even more so because it brings to the fore other issues which need to be dis- cussed urgently, namely religious cult fanati- cism; the 'culture' of stalking; untreated and unmonitored mental health conditions; hate speech; misuse of social media; a sense of lack of safety in the community, to name just a few, which in more ways than one have con- tributed to her assassination. Alas this does nothing to clear us, as a community, from our culpability in allowing this femicide to hap- pen. The ball is on our court. We need to really address this matter urgently and expedient- ly. I conclude with what Dr Albert Bell, an es- teemed colleague in the Faculty stated in a Facebook post (6th January); "…the aetiology of violent crime entails multifarious bio-psy- cho-social factors, from genetic factors to childhood trauma, serious psychiatric disor- ders to myriad social contingencies. It is rare- ly a case of one singular factor but a nefarious cocktail that builds up gradually and is even- tually unleashed with disastrous consequenc- es for the victims of such crime." Nothing new in a way, because every femi- cide had similar predictable physiognomies. Paulina is a reminder that once again we have failed women. This heinous crime is a call for action, way overdue. banana republic like Tropi- co – where 'rules' are literally 'there to be broken' – the entire vote-buying process is still car- ried out just a little less… well, blatantly than here. For instance: that 'campaign donation', that was used to 'bribe those faction leaders', and finance all those 'tax-cuts'…? It was SECRET, you know (so se- cret, in fact, that it even had to be funnelled into an undeclared offshore account…) By way of contrast, the way Robert Abela is now playing the same game… I won't say it's ex- actly 'original' (for like I said: he is hardly the first Maltese prime minister to have ever 'showered us with goodies', just weeks ahead of an election)… … but it certainly isn't what you would call 'subtle', is it? For let's face it: there is no 'secret' whatsoever, as to where all this sudden windfall is actually com- ing from. It's coming from the National Exchequer… which also means that – while he may indeed be the most unlikely per- son in the Universe, to actually have the nerve to even complain about it at all… … Tonio Fenech is nonethe- less perfectly correct to say that 'Robert Abela is buying the election with OUR money'. (In- deed, it was pleasant to hear the former finance minister actual- ly talking about matters within his competence, for a change… instead of all those 'weeping Madonnas', etc…) But the same old 'two-to-tan- go' economic principle still applies… so not only does the Maltese electorate (unlike, it must be said, that of Tropico) sit idly by, while its government secures its own re-election by spending THEIR hard-earned cash… but they openly applaud the transaction, too! It is, after all, still 'free mon- ey' – and almost literally 'fall- ing from the sky', too! – and besides: as Malcolm Bezzina's experience, above, so neatly il- lustrates… it's not as though there's any actual 'obligation', either way. Oh, no: just as the Labour gov- ernment could easily renege on its 'promise of assistance' to Bezzina, once safely elected… the electorate can always re- nege on a 'commitment' (which, in any case, was never actively 'entered into') to actually vote Labour, in the privacy of that cubicle. At which point, the question does have to be asked: who is re- ally 'cheating' whom, in this po- litical game? The 'politician-sell- er'… or the 'voter-buyer'? And if it turns out (as it cer- tainly seems to me) to be a 'little bit of both'… then… Seriously, though: just how hopelessly corrupt ARE we, as a nation… if we are clearly so very LESS democratic, than even a video-game parody, of a 'Papa- Doc'-style, tin-pot, Caribbean, goddamn… DICTATORSHIP?! Andrew Azzopardi Prof. Andrew Azzopardi Is Dean, Faculty for Social Wellbeing