Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/217686
10 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2013 Combating 'the worst form of abuse an individual can suffer' MIRIAM DALLI RAPE is considered to be one of the worst forms of abuse an individual can suffer. The victim is left with a sense of guilt and shame – the same feelings that can prevent a victim from reporting the case to the police. It is a harrowing reality that professionals believe is highly unreported in Malta. A yearly average of 20 rape cases are reported, with the numbers dropping down to 15 in 2012. This however doesn't mean that there are fewer victims, but that victims are not coming forward. This notion is corroborated by the fact that Malta has placed 37th in the world for rapes per capita. It is also a reality that a number of victims only come forward years after the crime would have been committed. In a bid to combat and prevent violence against women and domestic violence, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted the Istanbul Convention on 7 April 2011. The convention will come into force following 10 ratifications, eight of which must be member states of the Council of Europe. As of this year, the convention was signed by 32 states, including Malta. Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli yesterday announced the government was in the process of ratifying the convention into law. Addressing a seminar organised by the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations on the Istanbul Convention, Dalli said there could be no true equality among sexes if women continue to be victims of rape. "This also requires a change in mentality. People have to understand that violence is never justified and that no rape victim was partly to blame for what happened," she said. Dalli insisted that people, instead of condemning the act, would sometimes justify it. Another problem was perception: "If the act was carried out by a black person, then people would say it's because the perpetrator was black. If the rape was conducted by a white man then they would say the victim was dressed in a vulgar way." Harping on the importance of collating more data and information on victims of rape, Dalli said her experience showed that rape was underreported. "Lack of information means that Malta does not have the full picture and we cannot properly support women without the necessary information. It is also important that all stakeholders work together because there currently is a lack of coordination amongst the services being provided." The government, Dalli said, was currently in the process of bringing together the different services provided. Before Malta ratifies the Istanbul Convention, it must also come "The law does not give us the power to force the aggressor out of the house. Don't ask me why, because I don't know" – Vice-Squad Superintendent Paul Vassallo in line with what the convention states, including amendments to the law. Despite the ongoing works by state agencies such as Agenzija Appogg and the support provided by NGOs, there still appears to be a missing link which unites the chain. Moreover, questions have been raised as to whether the legal title under which rape falls limits the level of protection for the victims. Discussing rape from a legal perspective lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia, also a PN MEP candidate, argued that Maltese law was unclear, unspecific and open to different interpretations when tackling cases of rape. Moreover, from a legal point of view, cases have to be tackled according to the specific circumstances of the individual cases. What stuck out the most from Comodini Cachia's presentation was that the Maltese law defined rape as constituted by the commencement of carnal knowledge, which limits penetration by the abuser to human organs. Any abuse that involves foreign objects is not considered as rape, but indecent violent assault. The Istanbul Convention looks at rape differently: the 77-article convention makes solid case in defining rape as being an act where consent is not given. Consent means it must be given voluntarily as the result of the person's free will. For the convention, rape was not limited to sexual penetration. For Maltese laws, forced oral sex is not considered as rape but indecent violent assault. The determining factor of rape under Maltese legislation is violence – and not the lack of consent. Comodini Cachia said it was time to analyse whether the Maltese system was made up of "patchy attempts" in addressing violence against women. Until some time ago, English and Italian laws considered marital rape to be inconceivable. Social worker Marisa Russo, who works with victims of marital rape, recounted a series of traumatic experiences that women she works with have gone through. A woman who was severely beaten up and laid unconscious on the floor was raped twice by her husband; a wife who was forced to have sexual intercourse with strangers in her home while her husband sat down and watched; a young woman who was forced to take pregnancy tests in front of her partner who thought she was breaking off their relationship because she was having an affair, and not because of his abuse. "Rape is the worst form of violence, it induces shame and tarnishes the victim's dignity. Sexual intercourse, which should be an act of love, is used to degrade the victim," Russo said. Fighting rape is also about changing mentalities: there are beliefs that men have sexual needs that must be satisfied at all costs or that a married woman has to do everything which her husband tells her - irrespective of what she thinks of it; some who think that refusing to be sexually intimate would be wrong. Degradation was not only limited to physical abuse, but also mental: a husband forcing his wife to sleep on the floor for refusing to have sex with him; leaving windows open so she'll feel reluctant to argue for fear of being heard by their children or neighbours. Malta still lacks an easily-accessible rape crisis centre for women, despite repeated calls by women's organisations, human rights NGOs and the Commission for Domestic Violence. In 2009, a task force was set up to coordinate the setting up of a sexual assault response team that would operate from Mater Dei Hospital. A report was prepared within a year but the first time that funds were allocated for this team was in Budget 2014. Former commissioner for domestic violence Marceline Naudi, who represented Malta during the negotiations on the Istanbul Convention, described the convention as being about people whom "do not even dream of having a better life". Insufficient support services impede police investigations on domestic violence The law does not give police officers the power to order a perpetrator of domestic violence out of his home, according to Vice-Squad Superintendent Paul Vassallo. "The law does not give us the power to force the aggressor out of the house. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. And that is why women are sent to shelters," he said. Vassallo argued that police officers had no support services because, per public hours, offices closed at 5pm. He explained that, being the first person on the scene, the officer would have to investigate, provide psychological help and provide first aid if the victim had been injured among others. "Our job is not to give support services but to investigate the cases. We shouldn't be the ones to find victims a shelter, other than escorting them for security reasons," he said. Vassallo said the culture of expecting the government to do and provide for everything should change while NGOs and volunteers should become more active. He drew comparisons with countries abroad where volunteers worked with the police irrespective of whether it was night or day. "We are doing our best with nothing, but the criticism is always about us. I don't want more laws and frameworks but resources to work with. Because my role is that to investigate, not to be a social worker." YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt