Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/858250
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 AUGUST 2017 15 Interview Parliament's youngest member ROSIANNE CUTAJAR on gender-representation in Maltese politics; dealing with political harassment; the regulation of prostitution, and how women's NGOs don't always speak on behalf of all Maltese women some reason or another, he still lost the case. I'm projecting that scenario onto my own circumstances. And don't for a second think that I wasn't tempted [to sue]... I had my fam- ily to think about, at the time I had a boyfriend as well... but I wasn't ready, at the beginning of my po- litical career, to waste my energy fighting someone in court, when there was no certainty of winning. I say 'no certainty', not because what she was saying about me was true... but because, at the end of the day, the law courts don't al- ways work out the way we like to think they do. I'm not saying the law courts don't take their job seriously; but there have been many instances where people lost libel suits, when – in my opinion – they should have won. If that happened to be, I would have been left bearing the stamp of this libel case I lost. So I decided to ignore her. As it turned out, the people ignored her too... because in the 2015 election, even after three years of being attacked incessantly over the same thing – I still got elected, and even increased my votes by 500. That shows how little she influenced public opin- ion. But what also happened is that Nationalist activists continued to hold it against me. Among them David Thake, who would keep call- ing me about it... dedicating songs to me, like 'It's Raining Men' ... giv- ing out my private number over the radio, saying it's for 'escort ser- vices'... they were ready to descend to such low levels. But somehow, I never let these things get to me. Because I believe you must never lose your focus. Speaking of 'escort services' and prostitution in general: the Labour government has floated the idea of regulating prostitution... which did not go down too well with local NGOs such as the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations. As both a woman and a Labour MP, what are your own views on the issue? Sometimes I get the impres- sion that local women's NGOs are 'feminist' to the point that they lose sight of some of the is- sues. Prostitution is a good exam- ple. Not everyone who ends up in prostitution does so because they were abused, or coerced, or be- cause of drug problems. There are some who do so out of choice. So to cite the 'Swedish model', which criminalises the client and not the prostitute... in reality, that won't solve a thing. To me, these NGOs are so femi- nist that they only ever see 'pros- titution' as a case of men abusing women. They don't see prostitu- tion as a choice. There are a lot of realities – in other countries more than Malta, perhaps – where a young woman will still be at uni- versity; she might choose to spend part of her life prostituting herself to be able to pay for her studies. I'd much prefer the discussion to also look at other models apart from Sweden. In Germany and Austria, for ex- ample, prostitution has been regu- lated. It doesn't mean that every prostitute in Germany or Austria is licensed and above board; but at least, the State is helping to safe- guard the health of both the pros- titute and the client. Apart from distributing condoms, in those countries they also regulate the salaries of prostitutes, to safeguard against industrial exploitation. I have no doubt the working condi- tions of prostitutes are much bet- ter in those countries, than here. That's why I question the way NGOs are approaching this is- sue. Do these NGOs ever pause to consider that, by regularising prostitution, we will also be en- suring that prostitutes at least get paid for their work? That they will have regular medical tests, and that their health will be better safeguarded? Do they ever look at these things? To give another example: in German and Austrian brothels, if a prostitute is harassed or threatened by a client, they can press a buzzer and summon secu- rity. I don't think we can say the same for local escort services, or for the prostitutes in Gzira, among oth- ers. Those often end up getting beaten up. Regulation along the lines of Germany or Austria offers more protection to the prostitute. Naturally, there will still be some women who will not want to enter into a regularised environment. But just think how much more dangerous it is when unregulated. If there is regulation, a prosti- tute would be able to go to court when her rights are violated: for instance, if she wasn't paid. But if there's no regulation: what's she going to do? Is she going to take the case to court and try to win it? No. I honestly think we need to broaden this discussion. And I'm sorry to have to say this, but I, as a woman, sometimes don't feel rep- resented by women's NGOs. numbers Don't for a second think that I wasn't tempted [to sue]... I had my family to think about, at the time I had a boyfriend as well... but I wasn't ready, at the beginning of my political career, to waste my energy fighting someone in court, when there was no certainty of winning PERSONAL ATTACKS