Equality and Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis on Tuesday told women's rights groups that although the government had implemented laws against domestic violence, more still needed to be done.

Dr Zammit Lewis met with the Commission on Domestic Violence and NGOs like the Women’s Rights Foundation, SOAR and Moviment Graffitti, ahead of a protest in Valletta that follows the death of mother-of-two Chantelle Chetcuti from Zabbar, who was repeatedly stabbed by her partner on Sunday.

Dr Zammit Lewis explained that the government was opening a channel with civil society to discuss the changes going forward.

The greatest challenge, he said, was changing how society perceived women.

Dr Zammit Lewis also pointed out that Malta had ratified the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence in 2018.

When asked about whether Malta had implemented the full Istanbul Convention, he conceded that there were still a number of issues to implement administratively rather than legally.

During the initial meeting, the head of the St Jeanne Antide Foundation, Nora Marcelli stressed that something needed to be done to help survivors of domestic violence.

She said, ‘Survivors are losing hope because they are being told to resolve their domestic abuse cases through the law courts.’

Dr Zammit Lewis will be meeting with the NGOs in two weeks to discuss individual points raised.