The government-commissioned inquiry report into the femicide of Bernice Cassar concluded that there is no one person responsible for causing the death of the mother-of-two, who was shot in the face on her way to work despite several pleas she had made for help and protection.

Retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia concluded that “the system” failed her and that this was mainly due to the lack of resources available to the police and law courts and their heavy caseload.

In the 10 pages (out of the 72-page document) made public, Valenzia did not point at a specific individual.

But this does not mean there should be no finger-pointing. He makes one point crystal clear: over the years, he says, there have been countless recommendations to address shortcomings in the field of domestic violence.

The finger, then, should be pointed squarely at those who have made decisions on a policy level. NGOs have stated, equally clearly, that the responsibility for inaction lies with the government, which, ultimately, provides the resources needed by the police force and the law courts.

NGOs stress that what the inquiry says is nothing new. They are demanding action. A look at past news reports backs up their stand.

Back in 2017, the government had said it was working on standard operating procedures for handling domestic violence cases. This was a promise made again last week following the inquiry’s recommendation.

In 2019, Times of Malta reported that the police could not cope with their caseload as they were being inundated due to a wrong interpretation being given to the DASH risk-assessment tool, which had been criticised by many.

More recently, in January 2022, Times of Malta reported on the “enormous” backlog in domestic violence cases because the one magistrate dealing with the cases could not cope.

Recommendations to address this and various other shortcomings were made in a €20,000 government-appointed study titled Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: Statistics and Perceptions of Risk Factors for Harmful Behaviour. This study was completed in November 2021 but only published a year later, soon after the murder of Cassar on November 22, 2022.

Cassar had filed multiple police reports against her former husband, Roderick. Days before she was killed, her lawyer had pleaded with the police to take action against him for breaching a protection order. 

As for the lack of resources highlighted in the Valenzia report, there is no doubt that resources do exist in some form or other.

Over the past few months, it has been reported that €2 million had been spent on the new police gender-neutral uniforms, €7.5 million on upgrading police stations over five years and nearly €500,000 on 12 new 4x4 vehicles for the police force. Some of this spending was made with the help of EU funds.

While all these investments may have been needed, the government is yet to outline how much it will invest into actioning the Valenzia report. This newspaper has asked that question but has not received a reply.

Three femicides took place last year. The rape and murder of Polish Paolina Dembska nudged the authorities into introducing the concept of femicide. Rita Ellul was killed next. Cassar’s murder then led to the commissioning of the Valenzia inquiry.

We now have more words on paper – words we have read before, as Valenzia himself pointed out. They speak again of the dire need to improve the systems that protect women in precarious situations like Cassar’s. They are repeated year after year.

Let’s hope that, this time, history won’t be repeated.