Police should speed up their response time when citizens report incidents of violence, according to the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations.
In two recent cases, reported in The Times and The Sunday Times, two foreigners complained that the police did not take action when they reported witnessing violence on women.
“These women, acting as responsible citizens, went out of their way to report to the police. These examples should be rewarded not disregarded. Malta needs more women and men who act with responsibility and report violence whenever and whenever they encounter it,” the confederation said.
One of the women, British 26-year-old Rachel Ginty, had recounted how she witnessed a Maltese man beat his girlfriend in Paceville last month. She told the man to leave the woman alone and ended up getting pushed to the ground and her two friends beaten.
Ms Ginty said she called the police, who turned up, but did not take action against the aggressor. When she went home that night she called the St Julians police station again.
After the story was published, the police (who did not reply to questions sent before publication) called in Ms Ginty and her friends for questioning. They said they also spoke to the Maltese man and his girlfriend.
They then issued a statement saying Ms Ginty’s version was not entirely correct and quoted the version of the Maltese couple as undisputed fact. The police also said four people will be arrraigned over the case. Ms Ginty stuck to her story.
In another case, 34-year-old Frenchwoman Weronika Kacperska said she called the police twice, on helpline 112, after hearing her neighbour being beaten. She said the police never arrived.
“The confederation emphasises that action should be taken promptly and that no report can be taken lightly as no one has the ability to envision outcomes. It is the duty of the police to investigate and take the necessary immediate action...,” it said.
Maltese women cannot afford to wait until murder is done, the confederation said, referring to 38-year-old Bulgarian woman Irena Bilyanova Abadzhieva who was found dead with 40 stab wounds in her apartment in Qawra last weekend.