Watch: 'Substantial' rise in Gozo domestic violence reports, police chief says

There has been a 34% increase in reports of domestic violence in Gozo this year, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà said on Wednesday, attributing the rise to the opening of a help facility.

“We started operating a domestic violence hub in Gozo this year, and we’re seeing the same trajectory that we saw in Malta. There has been a substantial increase in the number of domestic violence reports,” Gafà told journalists.

He said that between January and October this year, the police received 91 domestic violence reports, up from 68 for the same period last year.

He said the police gender-based and domestic violence unit, set up in 2020, had seen its staff increase from an initial 20 to around. 70. The first 24/7 hub was opened in Santa Luċia in February 2024. Another will open in Mtarfa by the end of the year.

The commissioner said cases were being treated more efficiently than before. “We have also introduced a triage system. It’s not a matter of first-come, first-served anymore, but the riskiest cases are being treated as a priority.”  

Gafà said he believed that the unit has “reached its peak” as, for the first time since its setting up, the police have seen a slight decrease in the number of domestic violence reports in Malta. For the period January to October, reports dropped by five per cent when compared to the same period last year.

He said that many people were previously put off filing reports about domestic violence.

“I remember reading articles saying: ‘I went to the police station, and they told me to sort things out in bed with my husband.' Today, we do not have these types of headlines anymore,” he said.  As the police provided a better service, more people were encouraged to come forward. 

In 2014, a total of 1,048 domestic violence reports were filed. By 2024, that figure had increased to 2,225.