Toxic relationships, domestic violence and the lack of financial independence are among the recurring issues that women opened up about on the 60,000-member Facebook community Women for Women over the past decade, according to its founder, Francesca Fenech Conti.

“Domestic violence takes on many different forms, and some suffer from emotional, some financial, some physical violence, some suffer with all aspects and find it very difficult to get out,” she said, noting that one of the main obstacles women face is financial dependence.

“Many women, unfortunately, give up working when they have children or go on reduced hours and have jobs, not careers… Not working for a long time also leads to not having a pension to support us in our golden years,” she said.

This is why Francesca believes the government should prioritise policies that support gender equality, as women still take on a disproportionate amount of child-rearing and homemaking duties.

As she looks back at the past 10 years, she notes that other priorities – brought up by women commenting on the group – include safe, affordable housing for domestic violence survivors, addressing long court cases, and the need for more women in parliament pushing for change and supporting women’s issues.

Another urgent topic to address is women’s health. 

“Most countries have specific women’s health strategies in place – in Malta’s 40-page ‘National Health Strategy 2024–2030’, the word woman is only mentioned twice, in relation to mental health for men and women,” she says, adding that this must be taken more seriously.

The beginning

It all started from necessity. Ten years ago, Francesca was stuck at home recovering from a hysterectomy. 

“I really felt the need to communicate with other women, to hear their experiences after hysterectomies, any tips and tricks,” she said. 

She felt this was not something she could do through other communities she had been instrumental in setting up, such as Are You Being Served? and The Salott.

And that is how Women for Women was born – as a safe space where women could open up about issues they faced.

“I had never intended it to be a feminist or lobbying platform – although I always had a sense of social justice and human rights, having volunteered with AWAS [Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers] and was a founding member of the Migrant Women Association – I never really considered myself a feminist,” she reflects.

But things changed after she set up Women for Women and realised how many women were struggling, suffering and unempowered. She saw an inequality she had not noticed before and saw how many Maltese women are fighting for women’s rights and social justice.

I meet women almost every day who thank me for understanding them

“Unbeknown to me I had inadvertently created a feminist platform and many of Malta’s outspoken feminists, some from the past, who had been instrumental in influencing and lobbying for some of the rights we have today joined the group. Amazing women like Lara Dimitrijevic, Andrea Dibben, Carmen Sammut, Lorraine Spiteri, Renee Laviera, Anna Borg, the late Maria Lucia Briguglio and her daughter Marie Briguglio and many more – all very inspirational women, who encouraged me and inspired me to carry on,” she says.

Over these 10 years, Francesca has also shared personal experiences that include “how difficult I had found being a lone parent, and how motherhood was not what I was expecting, I spoke about my past toxic relationships, of how I was raped by an ex-boyfriend and never said anything to anyone”.

This inspired women to open up.

She has also taken steps forward, following the encouragement of women, to pursue a BA in social work/social policy and later a master’s in gender, society and culture.

Making a difference

As the group grew, so did its voice. Changes started being made.

In December 2016, following pressure from the Women’s Rights Foundation and the women from Women for Women, the morning-after pill was made available in Malta. One of the milestones was sparking the conversation about abortion – a topic that is still difficult to discuss. Francesca took a clear and open pro-choice stance.

“I meet women almost every day who thank me for understanding them. Siblings don’t know about their own sisters’ abortions, daughters and sons don’t know about their mother’s abortions… but they tell me, they share with me how it hurts them to see that their own flesh and blood call them murderers – that is why we activists say ‘we all know and love someone who has had an abortion’,” she says.

Another milestone was the setting up of the Women for Women Foundation, officially launched in 2020, to support women who are struggling.

“Working hand in hand with social workers from state and Church entities, we support numerous women to keep their babies and children fed and safe on a daily basis. From baby food, clothing and equipment to contraception, therapy sessions, doctors’ fees and everything in between, we try to build women up and help them through difficult times to enable them to get back up on their feet and to avoid them falling into poverty,” she says.

And plans continue with new ventures and projects in the pipeline that include a permanent thrift shop, a cookbook showcasing the 51 nationalities represented in the group… and more.