Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/542972
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JULY 2015 News 17 Facebook posts to cases of racially motivated physical violence. "In order to achieve behavioural changes in Maltese society, there needs to be a deeper understand- ing of, and tolerance towards the underlying issues concerning mi- grant populations," Cassar said. "One thing that's important to note is that racism doesn't only affect migrants – it also affects Maltese people who are of a differ- ent ethnicity. That is, racism isn't based on a person's citizenship or residence status but on the col- our of the individual's skin," she added. "We must make sure that inci- dents like this (Jack Daboma's) are independently investigated, and that the result of the investigation is not only the penalisation of indi- viduals by the relevant institution or national justice system for spe- cific wrongdoings, but also wide and proactive sensitisation and awareness raising." Asked to weigh in on the mat- ter, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality agreed that one of the ways to avoid such incidents, was to raise more aware- ness. "It is important that cases of dis- crimination are reported to the respective authorities," the NCPE said, encouraging persons who feel discriminated against on the grounds of their race to bring their case to the attention of the NCPE for further investigation. Cassar pointed out that reporting incidences of racism remains a big issue despite the existing structures which can handle such reports. "Incidents of racism occurring in Malta are higher than the numbers published in official statistics," she said. "The reasons for not reporting range from fear of being targeted again to uncertainty as to where to take the complaint and the be- lief that the complaint will not be heard." Maria Pisani, director of the In- tegra Foundation also commented on the issue of under-reporting, stating that aside from fear and not having faith in the system, a lack of awareness about related procedures was also a deterrent for victims of racist attacks. "This is particularly the case for African asylum seekers, who are also often dealing with poverty, insecurity and so on... We need to recognise how 'race' intersects with nationality, gender, age, so- cio-economic status as the experi- ence is unique to the multifaceted individual," she said. "For example a black European, or a black Maltese person, who has been a victim of racist violence, may have more resources at hand (financial, contacts, support sys- tem among others,) to speak up and seek justice." To this end, the People for Change Foundation is currently in the process of translating the serv- ice offered by Report Racism Malta into more languages with the aim of increasing accessibility. The way forward Although recent events may have painted a negative image of Mal- tese society, it is essential to point out that not everyone in the coun- try condones racist behaviour. In- deed Cassar said that a significant number of the reports received did not come from victims of racism themselves, but from concerned citizens who find the actions and words of others to be disrespectful and deplorable. However irked as some of us are by the less-than-exemplary racist attitudes of some, individuals are scarcely equipped to confront ag- gressors, and indeed doing so is rarely advisable. According to Cassar there were three types of reported incidents that stood out so far: "The first is racist comments on social media particularly on Face- book, the second is racist behav- iour or verbal abuse in public plac- es, and the third is the challenge of accessing services." These three aspects are in fact three of the scenarios tackled by an anti-racism campaign run down under by Australia's Human Rights association. If it feels safe to do so, the cam- paign suggests that simply talking calmly to the aggressors might help defuse things a little. It adds how- ever, that if the situation doesn't seem safe, then alerting someone in charge, such as a bus driver, or the police, could be useful. The campaign also suggests actions like "going and sitting or standing next to them and checking if they're well." The website also recommends in- forming victims of the right places where to seek help in cases such as these, and in the case of online rac- ism, the campaign recommends flagging comments or reporting them to the website in question. On an individual level, these simple tips could truly make a difference, but as Pisani points out, there also needs to be more awareness "of the insidious nature of racism and how many of us – perhaps unintentionally, reinforce and perpetuate it in our daily con- versations and in the language we use." Admitting that this was a some- what complex thing to do, Pisani said that it would be useful to start with the language that is used in everyday life. "In Malta, racist discourse feeds in to racialised policies (for exam- ple the detention policy) and prac- tices that perpetuate this viscious cycle of abuse. "Politicians, the media, educa- tors, service providers, the judici- ary and others are in a very pow- erful position and in general have done very little to address this is- sue. Even where racist discourse is blatant and brazen, heads don't roll, no one is held accountable, there seems to be a culture of im- punity," she said. Indeed, the case involving Jack Daboma has also brought into question the attitude of the police officers in question, and whether they used excessive force on Jack merely because of his skin colour. As investigations into the indi- vidual case are ongoing, the Police informed this newspaper that po- lice training to recruits already in- cludes modules related to policing diversities. "In the last two years, the Inter- nal Affairs Unit did not receive any reports of racial abuse perpetrated by officers," they added. "However, whenever such a case is reported to the Police, the Internal Affairs Unit launches an investigation, and depending on the outcome of the investigation, internal discipli- nary action and /or criminal action is taken accordingly." Aditus director Neil Falzon pointed out that it was sometimes difficult to define attacks as 'ra- cial hate crimes', but that the key was often the whole scenario sur- rounding a particular event. "The investigation would look into things like the moments be- fore, during and after the actual incident, statements made by the perpetrator during the violent in- cident, among others," he said. He added that clear messages of condemnation needed to be made by key entities, stressing a zero tolerance approach to any form of violence and racism. "Training police recruits to iden- tify racial hatred and to treat hate crimes as such would also go a long way to ensuring a more effective justice system." On a more general level, Falzon says that potential victims need to be made aware of their rights, and ensured protection during and af- ter proceedings. mborg@mediatoday.com.mt up to everyday racism Integra Foundation director Maria Pisani People for Change Foundation director, Christine Cassar Aditus Foundation director Neil Falzon