'Silence is not an option': Demonstrators call for end to violence against women

Demonstrators marched in Valletta on Sunday afternoon to commemorate International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. 

The march, accompanied by the drummers of Moviment Graffitti, who organised the event with endorsement of several other NGOs, passed through Republic Street and Merchants Street before circling back to the courts. 

Attendees held placards with slogans such as "Silence is not an option", as well as tributes to slain women, including Bernice Cassar (Cilia), Rita Ellul, Paulina Dembska and Sion Grech. 

Activist Klara Vassallo read out an entry from the diary of Bernice Cassar, who was shot by her husband while she was on her way to work. After reversing his plea to guilty in November, Roderick Cassar was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In the entry, Bernice described the increasingly frequent arguments she and her husband would have over his possessiveness.  

“He won’t even let me go out. He says he doesn’t want to lose me, and that was why he gives me so much attention,” Vassallo read out. 

Attendees paid tribute to women murdered in recent years. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

Christine Cassar from Moviment Graffitti described her recent appearance on an episode of discussion show Popolin discussing abortion. 

“To tell you the truth, I panicked when they told me I would be on the panel. Not because I’m not convinced about the issue, but because I know what happens afterwards: hundreds of comments and messages full of hatred and contempt,” she said.

Cassar added that the show’s producers were forced to moderate the show’s Facebook page because of the sheer number of such comments on a video clip of a woman talking about the fact that she had had an abortion.  

“This isn’t an isolated incident; it happens every time. Every time a woman shares her experience and her pain, instead of comments of compassion, there are comments of cruelty.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

Faye Theuma from MGRM noted that even after the legal recognition of femicide in 2022, women continued to face physical and psychological violence. 

“The issue is not just a legal one", she said. "As a society, we must educate ourselves to dismantle the structures and culture safeguarding these violent acts”. 

Theuma also referred to Eurostat figures from 2022 that showed a third of women experience sexual harassment at work, while almost 3,800 reported experiencing domestic violence.  

Dawn Sammut, also from Moviment Graffitti, said that despite claims that women and girls are living better lives today than ever before, women continue to suffer human rights abuses.  

“Every day, women are molested, physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, raped and trafficked by their fathers, brothers, uncles, family members, boyfriends, husbands, former partners, friends, peers, teachers, co-workers and neighbours,” she said.  

Sunday's action also saw the reading of poems and the performance of songs in solidarity with the event.