Delays in justice system cost lives

Last summer, I was invited on behalf of Malta Women’s Lobby to join the representatives of several NGOs at a meeting in parliament hosted jointly by the social affairs and family affairs committees in the aftermath of the femicide of Nicolette Ghirxi.

We duly assembled ready to explain what the situation is truly like from our first-hand experience dealing with victims of domestic violence.

We sat there for almost four hours, listening, waiting for our turn to speak. We heard how several of the recommendations of the Valenzia inquiry drawn up after the femicide of Bernice Cassar had been implemented and how a new hub for victims of domestic violence was opening.

We heard how more cases are being reported, as if higher numbers of reported cases of domestic abuse were something to be proud of rather than acknowledged in horror as a dismal reflection of a tragic situation that needs addressing.

The meeting ended but our voices were never heard. We never got the chance to speak that day but were invited to return two weeks later. I left that meeting feeling extremely frustrated. This should have been the perfect opportunity for the government to listen to the front-liners but it seems we were there only as accessories to a tick-box exercise.

They met, they spoke but they did not listen.

Today, we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and we demand change, we demand action and we demand to be heard. We’re done with empty promises.

We have been reading about a court case of a man who is charged with stabbing his estranged wife and harassing her when she sought refuge in a shelter. But the most shocking detail of the case is not the horrific ordeal the woman went through but, rather, the fact that this case is being heard a full 13 years after it happened.

This is the singular biggest failing of the Maltese state towards women in Malta.

It pains me to repeat the obvious but, when no solution seems forthcoming, we have to keep harping on the same point: we urgently need more magistrates to focus on domestic violence cases and to clear the backlog of cases.

Victims cannot be expected to wait years for their case to be heard; they cannot be expected to face the perpetrator time and again in multiple court hearings, to have to revisit their trauma years after they have started to heal, to endure the re-victimisation and endless torment in the name of justice. Because this is not justice.

Women feel they are not taken seriously until something serious really happens and then it is too late. Then the headlines blow up, parliamentary committees are hastily convened, demonstrations are organised, reports are written, promises are made, followed by silence. But the story continues every single day. And, at Fidem Foundation, we hear the distressing details directly from our service users day in, day out.

The police are not properly trained in how to handle cases of domestic violence- Sabine Agius Cabourdin

In preparation for the parliamentary committee meeting, we asked some of our service users for their comments on what they thought should be changed. They did not hold back. “Most women do not call to ask for help because they have had a bad experience in the past in how the police treated them when they tried to report domestic abuse,” one woman told us.

“The police are not properly trained in how to handle cases of domestic violence. Many of them need to attend courses on how to deal with the victims, not laugh at them, make fun of them or put on a show in the street. That’s why I will not call again to make another report.”

It is imperative that there is no skimping on police resources handling domestic violence cases. Current resources are evidently not enough.

While more hubs for domestic violence victims are needed, one survivor pointed out an anomaly that does not permit the police to force the perpetrator to leave the address he shares with his victim but can only offer the victim shelter elsewhere. “So, I am the one who has to suffer, who has to leave the house but he can stay despite everything he did to me.”

The tragic Ghirxi case highlighted the woefully inadequate response to stalking and harassment and the unreliability of the risk assessment procedure. “He is in Malta. I am worried,” Nicolette had told the police just days before she was killed. But no action was taken  and then it was too late. Even though Edward Johnston was on the police’s wanted list, he was not stopped for questioning when he landed in Malta.

When stalking and harassment are not taken seriously by law enforcers, or when they are not properly flagged or picked up by a risk assessor, victims are left vulnerable and their safety is compromised. Women find it very difficult to prove psychological and emotional abuse and for such abuse to be officially recognised for what it is – another form of violence.

Risk assessments must include any existing criminal records to give assessors the full picture. It seems that, at the moment, GDPR takes priority over the safety and lives of women at risk and blocks assessors from accessing all the information necessary for a complete assessment.

Protection orders are evidently meaningless and are blatantly broken by the perpetrators because they have no fear of the law or of being reprimanded. Earlier this year, the bill introducing electronic tagging was due to be discussed in parliament but that has yet to happen.

Ultimately, victims of domestic violence are always asked the same question: why don’t you leave him? But only they know how difficult and even dangerous it can be to leave.

The failure of the legal system to provide adequate protection and support often leaves women feeling they have no option but to stay at home, despite the torment of abuse.

They are afraid that leaving might provoke worse consequences; they might be financially dependent on the perpetrator; or they might be terrified and worn out by the repeated trauma of multiple court battles.

Whatever the reason, it is not for us to judge but it is our duty to ensure they are given a safe space, that they are heard, that they are taken seriously and that they are protected without any delay. Because delays cost lives.

Sabine Agius Cabourdin is the founder of Fidem Foundation. Domestic Violence will be one of the topics of discussion at Fidem’s annual International Women’s Day Conference entitled ‘Accelerate Action’ to be held on March 7.