Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/963162
maltatoday SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2018 9 News TIA RELJIC THE pro-life group Life Network is pro- moting a 'save-sex-for-marriage' roadshow in schools by a group of young activists dubbed Challenge Team UK. The group describes itself as a group of volunteers who educate teens on "healthy sexuality" through presentations explain- ing why young people can choose to ab- stain on sex. But the group denies spreading 'absti- nence-only education', saying on its website that "Challenge Team promotes healthy sexuality by affirming sexuality and sex, ac- knowledging sexual feelings and hormones and suggesting that teens consider 'save sex for marriage' in order to stay healthy now and enjoy marriage later." Life Network chairperson Miriam Sciber- ras said Challenge Team was not a religious organisation, and that there is no mention of religion in the presentation. However, it would seem the message is inherently Christian: the group's website explains that "all of those involved in the Challenge Team so far have Christian beliefs as the Christian faith promotes saving sex for marriage." When asked about the inefficiency of abstinence-only education, Sciberras said Maltese youths were already privy to dif- ferent types of sex education during PSD (personal and social development) lessons. "Such presentations fill a gap of sorts… Others tell young people to experiment, while such groups pose the question that perhaps it makes more sense to wait." Sciberras said Life Network had received invitations from a number of public, pri- vate, and church schools in Malta, for Challenge Team UK to deliver their pres- entation to a total of 800 fifth- and sixth- form students two weeks ago. Sciberras told MaltaToday the material displayed was age-appropriate, and that the group sends over the video-clips and information to the schools beforehand to make sure the material is acceptable to the school. The process of setting up a talk at a school does not involve the consent of parents or schoolchildren. Instead, it is at the discre- tion of the school and the teachers who discuss between themselves and decide whether the group should be invited or not. The presentations also normally take place during PSD lessons – which are ob- ligatory for school-children. Last year, controversy arose over a graph- ic abortion video shown by Sciberras dur- ing a PSD lesson for fifth-form students, after a number of parents filed complaints at the education ministry. Pro-life group wants teens to 'save sex for marriage' Outside an MCAST school: Challenge Team UK SLAPP amendment unlikely to pass in media Bill debate MATTHEW VELLA THE government is not expected to vote in favour of an amendment to the Media and Defamation Bill that would outlaw the use of SLAPP lawsuits against the Maltese press. MaltaToday understands that National- ist MPs have been informed of the govern- ment's intentions when the debate of the law continues on Monday. A well-placed source said the government would presented its "studied position" on Monday, but it seems the disagreement concerns the way European court judge- ments have to be upheld by the Maltese courts. A strategic lawsuit against public partici- pation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal de- fence until they abandon their criticism or opposition. The tactic is employed by rich organisa- tions that use the threat of expensive law- suits in foreign courts to force news or- ganisations to cave in to pressure, and was recently used by the private bank Pilatus as well as citizenship experts Henley & Part- ners. The Nationalist Party has made the SLAPP amendment its main contribution to the prospective media reform bill, which will change the way defamation proceed- ings can be initiated. Under the amendment, any judgement of any court outside Malta on alleged defama- tion, handed down against Maltese resi- dents, would be considered "contrary to the public policy or to the internal public law of Malta" when the defendant would not have defended the case on its merits in the for- eign court. It also proposed that it will be a matter of the public policy of Malta that proceedings in respect of any publication, made by a person or entity normally resident or domi- ciled in or operating within Malta, shall be brought in a Maltese court and that these courts will have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine such proceedings "irre- spective of whether the publication in ques- tion is hosted or otherwise broadcast from servers located outside Malta". The recent revelation that Pilatus Bank had instituted defamation proceedings against the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Arizona, as well as threats made by the bank and by citizenship experts Hen- ley and Partners, to other media houses have brought the SLAPP threat to the pub- lic's attention. In the United States, the "SPEECH Act" which was passed in 2010, prohibits the rec- ognition and enforcement of foreign defa- mation judgments. Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi (centre) proposed the SLAPP amendment to the MADA