Bernice Cassar was evidently a very courageous woman. When she realised things were out of control, she left her matrimonial house together with her two children, hired a lawyer and filed all the necessary reports against the harassment she was allegedly receiving.
The last report she filed was last Monday. The next morning, as she drove to work, a man stood in her path and pulled the trigger. Bernice was killed on the spot. After a long standoff, her estranged husband was arrested and charged with her murder. Within hours, the chronicle of errors and delays relating to her case were made public. It included the fact that a protection order was issued last July after she had reported her estranged husband had threatened to “blow her brains out”. That protection order was worthless, and her murder, femicide, call it what you will, now takes domestic violence to a new level.
This was not a case of a woman living in denial, keeping her ordeal within the confines of her home, living through hell in silence and giving her partner repeated chances, hoping things will get better. Bernice did what women in her situation are advised to do and sought the protection of the institutions. But to no avail. The institutions let her down, despite the fact that a number of helplines and services are advertised to help those facing violence and threats at home.
While the spectacular failure of the institutions could well have been responsible for this murder, it is a mistake to dismiss the perennial problem that these same institutions are clearly lacking resources.
It is a mistake to dismiss the perennial problem that these institutions are clearly lacking resources
What is the point of amending laws, setting up new units and doubling up on political rhetoric if the courts and the police, especially, are hardly given the manpower, tools and skills needed to deal with the problem of domestic violence? It is pointless resorting to kneejerk reactions when robust action is needed to make a difference and save lives.
Having another magistrate assigned to hear such cases is a good start, but will it mean that instead of a year and a half, a woman will have to wait nine months to at least have some protection from the court?
Does the law empower the police to arrest and interrogate a person immediately once a domestic violence report is made and then proceed with prosecution within 48 hours if there is a prime facie case? If not, how long will it take parliament to enact the necessary amendments, including making it compulsory on the magistrates’ court to hear the case with urgency?
That is something the government and the institutions must deal with.
While efforts are being made to try to stamp out misogyny and the patriarchal system, this is a process which needs a concerted effort, starting from our education system, to families, to the media and to our political discourse.
Civil society has a crucial role to play too. It should not rest until drastic measures, including of a legal nature, are put in place and rigorously implemented. Most of the progress achieved in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation can be attributed to civil society. Bernice and the other 28 women whose murder is considered to be a femicide deserve no less. More so those going through the same predicament and risk meeting the same horrible end. They cannot be allowed to die by a thousand delays.