Surveys published over the past few days pieced together a troubling picture of the reality of domestic violence victims: one in every four women in Malta is abused by an intimate partner.
More than half – 58 per cent – sought help. But – and here is the worrying part – for those 42 per cent who did not find a way to seek help, their only hope is the people around them such as neighbours, colleagues and relatives.
Heaven forbid that those people are among the ‘one in 10’ who believe that domestic abuse is a private matter and should be dealt with behind closed doors.
That would be the equivalent of about 50,000 people in Malta who believe that a person being abused in their own home is essentially nobody’s business, according to a Eurobarometer survey.
The statistics emerged as the world marked 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
We have seen that Malta has the highest rate of reporting domestic and gender-based violence in the EU, according to Eurostat figures.
Twenty-six per cent of women experienced psychological, physical or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. Fifty-eight per cent reported to a health or social service, support service or police.
It is good to know that women are reporting their cases. But we need to look deeper. Where are these reports leaving these women?
As of October, a total of 1,927 domestic violence cases were pending their first hearing in Maltese courts, according to Justice Minister Jonathan Attard in response to a parliamentary question.
At the moment there are two magistrates handling these cases that continue to increase, an insufficient number according to the head of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services.
All magistrates should be trained to deal with domestic violence cases and assigned to preside over them at least once a week, he suggested.
The minister had said it was his intention to continue increasing the number of members of the judiciary, including more magistrates to offer more attention to these kinds of cases.
It’s a good intention. But that’s all it is.
Meanwhile, these women are living in shelters or out of their homes, sometimes with children. Others are dropping charges because it’s easier that way.
A large chunk of the cases are high-risk. Ruth Sciberras, who runs the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Meeting that evaluates high-risk domestic violence cases, reported 836 cases since MARAM was set up in June last year.
The statistics are telling a story of a growing problem that is being reported but it also reflects a story of a society that tolerates a level of abuse.
Domestic Violence Commissioner Samatha Pace Gasan has long been saying that more must be done to address perpetrators. She spoke about harsher punishments and more rehabilitation.
Speeding up court proceedings will also transmit the message that the state considers these matters to be serious and urgent.
This is a message that needs to be amplified to all, to the perpetrators and all members of society, especially to those one in 10 people who think domestic violence is a personal, family issue.
The message must be unequivocal. If you abuse of someone, the state will swoop in, fast and firm.
No, it is not acceptable for a person to instil fear into another, even if no one is watching. It is not acceptable for people to turn a blind eye to this behaviour and it is not acceptable to prolong suffering.
The consequences or impacts of the crime extend far beyond the initial, private setting or context where it occurred.