More than one person a day has been charged with gender-based violence since a new law was introduced to better protect victims, figures show.

The majority of the alleged perpetrators were men but the conviction rate is unknown as many of the cases are still pending in court.

Data obtained from the police found that 817 people have been charged since the Gender-Based and Domestic Violence Act came into effect in May 2018.

Of those facing charges, 566 are men and 251 are women, according to Loqus Business Intelligence, which compiled the statistics for the police.

The bulk of those charged between May 2018 and November 2019 were Maltese (687) while the remainder were foreign nationals (130).

A wide range of offences are covered in the act’s definition of violence “against a person because of their gender” including rape, sexual harassment, stalking and human trafficking.

The Commissioner for Gender-Based and Domestic Violence, Simone Azzopardi, said the figures did not show the true extent of the problem.

We are always advocating women to report their cases in order get out of an abusive relationship

“One can safely say that the reality is never reflected in the number of reports and persons charged, since victims may opt not to report the violence. They might seek the assistance of social workers, and still not report to the police,” she said.

Ms Azzopardi said that cases of violence go unreported for various reasons such as survivors believing the abusive partner will change, economic dependence, fear of greater physical danger to themselves and their children if they attempt to leave, fear of emotional damage to the children and fear of losing custody.

Other issues that hold victims back from speaking up, she said, include lack of job skills, alternative accommodation issues, social isolation resulting in lack of support from family or friends, fear of involvement in court, fear of retaliation, fear of loneliness and guilt about failure of relationships.

“In this context we are always advocating women to report their cases in order to get out of an abusive relationship both for their own sake and their children’s,” she said.

While gender-based violence is a general term that applies to all genders, it is internationally recognised that most victims are women and girls.

In 2018 alone, domestic violence in Malta increased to 8.4 per cent of all offences, reaching 1,341 cases, according to an annual report by Crime Malta.

The Gender-Based and the Domestic Violence Act was enacted during that year, when Malta ratified the Istanbul Convention, the legal framework on tackling gender-based violence. Under the law anyone found guilty of committing a crime because of a person’s gender will have to face an increased punishment.

The law brought with it a new risk assessment tool known as the DASH system – the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Risk Identification.

However, DASH has been criticised by magistrates, prosecutors, defence lawyers and the police, who say the system is overloaded because so many cases are being ranked as “high risk.

Last October, Times of Malta reported that the law is being reviewed to improve how different bodies work together and to refine the process.

Types of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence 

Psychological violence
Stalking
Physical violence
Rape and other sexual violence
Forced marriage
Female genital mutilation 
Forced abortion and 
forced sterilisation
Sexual harassment
Child sexual exploitation
Human trafficking