The week before last, a delegation from the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as GREVIO, was in Malta to carry out an evaluation visit.
Quite frankly, we have a very worthy story to tell and we gave a good account of ourselves. We have a very active group of activists and NGOs working in the sector and, crucially, the government is investing a lot in combating domestic violence.
The Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS) is the pioneer in this sector on the island. Indeed, one of the first two services that the Social Welfare Development Programme (SWDP), which later became Appoġġ, began with way back in 1994 was the Domestic Violence Service (DVS). Ironically, then, our service predates the Istanbul Convention itself. I would like to pay tribute to the pioneers who set up this service 26 years ago when talking about domestic violence was still quite a social taboo – let alone helping the victims escape from their abusers. These professionals are among our society’s best unsung heroes.
In the last seven years, the number of professionals working in this service was doubled from 23 to 47. We have also increased our budget by 57.6 per cent so that it stood at € 1.1 million in 2019.
This is in response to the ever-increasing awareness on the issue that has led to more victims coming forward and seeking our help. Indeed, while in 2013 Aġenzija Appoġġ assisted 594 victims, this more than doubled to 1,300 in 2019. In total, 5,850 victims were helped between 2013 and 2019.
Over the same period, FSWS (Aġenzija Appoġġ) professionals worked with 395 victims who decided to leave the abusive relationship they were in and start a new life from our first-stage-shelter – Għabex. It was again the first of its kind, and now it is in its 20th year of operation.
We also worked with 663 perpetrators over the same period of time. Furthermore, since the Istanbul Convention was transposed into Maltese law and carrying out the risk assessment became a legal requirement, in 2019 we carried out 1,263 risk assessments at all times of the day and night.
Our greatest challenge is the low number of students choosing social work
An interesting development is the space which has been given to service-providing NGOs which offer shelter and support to victims. A look at our internal statistics shows that while we hosted 66 victims at Għabex in 2013, this has gone down to 36 last year. The reason for this is simple. We can keep victims for longer because now there are more shelters available thanks to the service-providing NGOs.
Indeed, the Ministry for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity is signatory to three Public Social Partnerships (PSPs) with NGOs providing shelters and social support. These are:
Dar Merħba Bik of the Good Shepherd Sisters – a first-stage shelter offering 15 family units for victims and their children, while they also have a second-stage shelter; Dar Santa Ġużeppina Bakhita, which has three family units; Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesù of Fondazzjoni Sebħ of the Archdiocese of Malta – a second-stage shelter with nine family units; and Dar Tereża Spinelli of the Suret il-Bniedem Foundation of the Capuchin Friars which offers 15 beds for homeless women and their children.
Together, these shelters receive almost €2 million over the three-year duration of the PSP. The FSWS refers service-users to these NGOs and we liaise with them to support the victims on their journey to becoming survivors, independent and fully reintegrated into society.
All this does not mean that we are perfect and that there aren’t challenges in the sector. Our greatest challenge is the low number of students choosing social work and related professions whom we can employ.
Another challenge is idle chatter of some claiming that not enough, or even anything, is being done – thereby discouraging victims from seeking help. As the GREVIO delegation pointed out at the end of their visit, all countries have improvements to make and the service is always a work in progress.
Thus, we will continue to strive to improve our front-line services as we have always done through training and continuous professional development. We will continue to work with the other players in the sector, especially the police and NGOs, because for us every victim who needs our help is one victim too many. There is, indeed, no room for complacency.
For help please call any time on the National Support Line 179.
Alfred Grixti is CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services