Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545002
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 MAY 2026 OPINION A manifesto for all women Rebecca Buttigieg Equality parliamentary secretary and PL candidate for the 9 and 10 districts WOMEN are the majority of Malta's population. Yet for most of our history we were largely bystanders; there but not there. Since its establishment, the La- bour Party has worked to ad- dress this. The manifesto Int Malta is another clear step in this direc- tion. Amongst its targets one finds a commitment to halve the gender gap in employment rates and to be amongst the three EU countries that have the lowest gender pay gap. Over recent years we have managed to make a lot of progress in reducing employment gaps, in delivering effective social pol- icies and changing women's lives for the better. The man- ifesto includes many proposals that will keep pushing forward down this path. For the first time Malta will have a national strategy for women's health, with the es- tablishment of the first wom- en's health clinic devoted to addressing gender inequalities in health provision. PCOS, en- dometriosis and adenomyosis are three conditions that affect our girls but on which there is little awareness yet. We will work to change this, and pro- vide for the first-time free med- ication on the national health service for these conditions. A new Labour government will also introduce a fast-track re- ferral system for suspected endometriosis or adenomyosis because young women need to be supported and not ignored. Menopause is a phase of life of every woman. Yet discussing it is a taboo, just like it was a taboo to discuss menstruation. Our campaign End the Stigma has started to change this, and we want to do this with meno- pause also. We will be offering hormone replacement therapy for free on the national health service, and will be introducing guidelines to develop a work- place policy to support women passing through this phase. At the same time, we will expand the free menstrual product ma- chine programme from second- ary to post-secondary schools. If given a new mandate, we will accelerate our efforts to eradicate cervical cancer. We will be distributing self-screen- ing swab tests and offer the HPV vaccine to all women below 35. There will be a new national screening centre from where we will expand screening services, including reducing the age for breast cancer screening to 45 years. Labour has already made many changes to address do- mestic violence. But this is not enough. Thus, if elected again, we will carry out stronger measures and boost resources to combat domestic violence, including prevention cam- paigns in schools. We will be introducing an additional five days of fully paid leave for vic- tims of domestic violence, to enable them to access servic- es, relocate and protect them- selves. At all stages of court proceedings, we will aim to try to minimise re-traumatisation by ensuring that victims testi- fy via video-conferencing at all stages. Women, especially girls, are however facing new challenges online. Abuse online is increas- ing and therefore we will be introducing legislation against image-based abuse and abusive deepfakes. We will introduce a revenge porn helpline and carry out education campaigns to make sure that everyone is aware of how to properly use social media. Int Malta is truly a manifesto for mothers. We are proposing 20 additional hours of antena- tal leave for pregnancy relat- ed medical visits and 20 hours leave for adoption related medical visits. The manifesto also includes a massive exten- sion of parental and materni- ty/paternity leave, supporting women's work–life balance. Maternity leave will be extend- ed to 26 weeks, while paterni- ty leave will be doubled to one month. And then we are pro- posing what I believe will be a real game changer—six months paid parental leave which can be used by either the father or the mother. All this leave will be paid at the net pay of the individual, so that there will be no financial difference between staying with your child and go- ing to work and utilising free childcare. Then there will be 28 additional paid days during the first year after returning to work. My heart always ached when during house visits older wom- en would tell me that they are so happy that us, younger wom- en were getting a better chance than they had been given. They had been stopped from con- tinuing to work and now have to depend on their husband's pension. They thank me that Labour increased pensions. Now, I am happy to be able to tell them that a new Labour government will give them their own pension. If their hus- band had paid more contri- butions than was required for a full pension, they will now be getting five years' worth of those excess contributions so that they will get a pension themselves. Our mothers will at last receive their due. Together with all women can- didates on the Labour ticket, for the first time nearly 40% of all party candidates, I am com- mitted to deliver this manifesto for the benefit of all. Together with all women candidates on the Labour ticket, for the first time nearly 40% of all party candidates, I am committed to deliver this manifesto for the benefit of all