Any man found guilty of crimes carried out within 'femicidal circumstances' must serve the maximum possible sentence, according to a new bill seeking to introduce the concept of femicide in to Malta's criminal code.

The crimes include murder, domestic violence, honor killings, crimes with misogynistic intentions and abusive religious practices such as female genital mutilation, the government announced on Wednesday.

As Times of Malta revealed earlier, the defence of 'sudden passion' will also be removed as a mitigating factor when a man commits a violent act such as murder or attempted murder against a woman.

“It is no longer acceptable in today's society for someone to say ‘I lost my temper and killed a woman’," said Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis.

The bill has been tabled in parliament for its first reading and was drafted in response to the public outcry following the rape and murder of 29-year-old Paulina Dembska last month. 

It does not seek to make femicide a distinct legal offense, as murder already carries the maximum penalty at law, lawyer Fleur Abela, who was presenting the proposed legislation on behalf of the Justice Ministry said.

It will instead introduce the concept of femicide into the criminal code and acknowledge the reality that women are more likely to be the victims of violence when compared to men.

Femicide is when a woman is killed because she is a woman. 

'Sudden passion'

The 'sudden passion' defence, which can be used as a mitigating factor to secure a more lenient sentence of between five and 20 years, will remain valid for other murder and attempted murder cases.

Asked why it is not being removed for all cases, regardless of gender, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said it had been around for many years and was backed by case law.

"The advice that I have been given is to only make an exception in the case of violence against women,” he said.

“It is no longer acceptable in today's society for someone to say ‘I lost my temper and killed a woman’, so we sought to amend this part of the law.

"However, that defense remains valid in every other applicable circumstance."

Women's Rights Foundation director Lara Dimitrijevic said the bill was an important first step in recognizing violence against women.

"Gender-based violence is a pandemic with deep roots in our society, but we have the power to eradicate it,” she said.

“In order to tackle the problem, we must first acknowledge that we have a problem. Violence against women is prevalent and normalized in our society. We all know of the problem, but we must describe it and call it by its name to give certainty to what we’re saying.”

Equality Minister Owen Bonnici said that as the father of a young girl, reports of gendered violence left him outraged and that the government had sought to work with activists to bring forth these amendments to the criminal code. 

“We have heard your thoughts and your anger and debated about what needs to be done in the coming weeks, months and years to eradicate this phenomenon,” he said. 

“Through this bill we want to affirm our belief that there is no room for violence of any kind in our country.”