Rejoice! We will soon have a pan-European definition of rape as “penetrative sex performed without consent, with a body part or an object”. This has been included in a new directive which, if passed by the law-making bodies of the European Union, will apply all across the 27 member states.

There are serious doubts as to whether the European Commission has the power to legislate on such matter, since the treaties allow such power only in crimes that have cross-border dimension, such as sexual exploitation of women and children and trafficking in human beings. However, the intention of the Commission is laudable; it is the method that is faulty.

However, the issue of domestic violence and rape is not solved by lofty ideals being encapsulated in pan-European legislation. Violence against women depends on the political, legal, and financial resources, which the government of a member state allocates to the fight against gender-based violence.

The issue of domestic violence and rape is not solved by lofty ideals being encapsulated in pan-European legislation

Recent statistics have revealed a staggering 2,283 domestic violence cases pending before our law courts. Of these, only 210 were determined and closed by a final judgment by last October. Victims of gender-based violence who report their partners or spouses today for having suffered violence will receive a notice to appear in court in January 2025. Thirteen months from now.

It has now transpired that Bernice Cassar, who was shot dead in broad daylight, had reported her spouse at the police station on several occasions. She was still waiting for the first hearing of her case. Her husband beat her to it.

He is accused of killing her and having the gall to call her father telling him about what he just did. The pending domestic abuse cases against him were no deterrent. Deterrence requires immediate protective action. What is there to give protection to a battered wife 13 months after she suffers a beating by her husband?

What purpose is there for a bruised and battered wife to appear before court of law 13 months after the assault?  Bernice Cassar’s family lawyer stated that, “A year on, and despite the recommendations of the Bernice Cassar inquiry, the situation is the same. Where are the domestic violence hubs we were promised?”

I distinctly remember, years ago, one of the cases where a client of mine had her face disfigured in part by her husband. She attended court, waited outside, and without even being summoned to appear before the magistrate, judgment was delivered against her husband.

There was a plea-bargaining exercise between the defence and the Attorney General’s Office, the case was heard summarily, rather than through a compilation procedure, and following admission of guilt, a suspended sentence was imposed on the accused. The magistrate did not even see the scar on my client’s face.

A few months later, I was appointed justice minister following a change in administration, and I introduced legislation ensuring the right of the victim to attend a court sitting even if he or she was a witness. The rule that witnesses should only enter the courtroom when giving evidence was repealed where it came to victims of crime. This nonchalant attitude towards violence against women is typical of a society where, as is happening in nearby Italy, men treat women as objects they possess. They consequently feel they have the right to harm them if they do not abide by their wishes, or if they stray away, or decide to leave the matrimonial home.

The Good Shepherd Sisters in Balzan have for years given sterling service to battered women and provided shelter to women who, owing to family trouble, find themselves homeless. They had to install an iron gate to prevent husbands and partners trying to force their way in, to claim back what they consider to be “their property and possessions”.

The way forward in my view is to launch an intensive campaign in schools and educational institutions. These must be aimed particularly at male students, with visual material denouncing the ugliness of violence against women and children. We need to see the creation of a swift mechanism where protection can be given in real time. We need to see an aggressive attempt at solving, at any cost, the pending domestic violence cases starting from the oldest cases, the ones that require immediate action or denote a pattern of violence.

Only then can one rejoice in pan-European norms on gender-based violence. Action and deeds rather than laws, directives, and regulations.

 

Tonio Borg is a former European Commissioner and deputy prime minister.