Samantha Pace Gasan has been appointed Domestic Violence Commissioner.

She will be replacing Audrey Friggieri who served in this role since 2020 and said last month she was resigning for personal reasons.

Pace Gasan has been serving as Commissioner for Persons with a Disability for the past two-and-a-half years.

In that role, she worked to ensure there was no discrimination towards disabled people and for the rights of the disabled to be safeguarded.

She had previously worked at MEUSAC and as a researcher at the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing. She co-authored research into the impact of COVID-19 on people with disability and is active within civil society, having founded the Network of Young Women Leaders.

She graduated with a BA Hons in Social Politics in 2016 and later obtained a Master in Creativity and Innovation. In the latter, she focused on social innovation in small and medium enterprises.

Pace Gasan has been socially active since she was young. She was a member of the Malta Girl Guides and several other non-governmental organisations. She also sat on the National Youth Council and Studenti Ħarsien Soċjali. 

In a statement, the government said Pace Gasan's experience will help her in her role as Domestic Violence Commissioner to take the commission to the next step so that it could continue to fight this social wound.

She would also ensure that more professionals were trained to assist victims and to continue implementing the Istanbul Convention for the protection of women from any form of violence.

Equality Minister Byron Camilleri and Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg congratulated Pace Gasan on her new role and thanked Audrey Friggieri for her service.