And it is time to blog again. Why, after months of silence? These last few months have been a tough personal journey for me. One that took me to places where I questioned my dedication to advocacy, as I often felt that nothing will change.

I laid low and quiet, but that nagging feeling remained within me and no I will not be silenced nor remain silent. But this is not what today’s blog is about.

Today it’s about dignity and social values.

Looking at the news over the last couple of months, we read of political squanders, environment, bullying, animal cruelty, exploitation of migrants and yes, of course, pathetic bickering over borders and governments evading and failing at their responsibilities.

We have also had our fair dose of domestic abuse, human trafficking, sexual exploitation of women in our mushrooming massage parlours and homicides. Four to be precise, almost within a month, three of them being women.

And that's not the worst of it. Comments under the news articles and social media are. I am not one to take note much of comments under news articles and even less on other social media portals.

Considering that we do live in the country where stealing a pack of shaving razors lands you in jail while firing a gun at your female partner gets you off with a fine, none of above is surprising

I have had my fair share of hate directed at me. Just as a little while ago I was a baby killer, Mengele, worse than ISIS & Nazis combined and so on.

But, that’s ok. I can take it.

On the other hand, the comments directed at the most vulnerable, used and abused, on Maltese social media, are the pits of humanity.

We see comments justifying racism, comments blaming the victims for all that happened to them. Comments claiming that everything that happened to them was their own choice. Comments by Maltese people wishing death to hundreds of people lest they try and reach our shores.

I could also write a novel, made up from comments by men, about their right to women’s bodies, and men's “right” to have sex in the massage parlours and strip clubs, but I’ll leave that for another time.

Then there are the headlines. We call it a 'Crime of passion' when an entitled and privileged man takes away a woman's life. Where is passion in killing what you profess to love? That’s entitlement of a man believing that he has a full right to a woman’s body and soul. Him and nobody else.

And how about the hunter, killing protected birds (storks in this case), in full knowledge that it is against the law? That’s also entitlement. He does it just the same. Because it is his “right”.

Still, considering that we do live in the country where stealing a pack of shaving razors lands you in jail while firing a gun at your female partner gets you off with a fine, none of above is surprising.

All of this is plain wrong. All of this, in a country, where most claim to have a strong Christian and Catholic ethics and morality. All of this in the country where so many talk about our unchangeable, humane “values”.

Yes, we Maltese have values and yes we have sense of ethics/justice/morality – with the difference that they are terribly misplaced.