Women’s Day: ‘Political will needed’ for better protection

For any real change to better protect women, activists have said there needs to be the political will backed by a generous budget and adequate human resources to deal with the ever-increasing load of crimes against women.

Replying to The Shift’s questions about the conclusions of the inquiry into the death of Bernice Cassar, the chairperson of the Malta Women’s Lobby (MWL), Anna Borg, noted that the MWL, together with key activists and other NGOs had been highlighting these shortcomings for years, “with few results”.

“For us, the most important thing is not the vindication from the inquiry, but that recommendations are implemented, and if they are not, the people responsible are held accountable”, adding that “the buck stops with the ministers responsible”.

Bernice Cassar was shot dead last November while driving to work at Corradino industrial estate, Paola. Her estranged husband, Roderick Cassar, has been charged with the murder and pleads not guilty. Cassar had repeatedly sought protection from her estranged husband.

Before Bernice, there was Rita Ellul, who, in February, was strangled to death in Għajnsielem, and her partner, Lawrence Abina, has been charged with killing her. Rita Ellul had also reported him to the police for domestic violence.

Inquiry conclusions

Immediately following the death of Bernice Cassar, the government launched an independent inquiry to establish whether any state institutions failed to prevent her killing.

In a letter, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and Justice Minister Jonathan Attard asked Judge Geoffrey Valenzia to determine whether the authorities were or should have been aware that Bernice Cassar’s life was in danger and if there were any failings in implementing domestic violence law.

They also asked him to investigate whether there were systemic inefficiencies and negligence by the responsible officials.

In his conclusions, Judge Valenzia noted, among other things, that the entire system for handling domestic violence cases didn’t work as it was meant to work, as it didn’t protect those repeatedly asking for protection.

The reasons were primarily a lack of resources and an increasing workload. This included a delay in the processing of reports, bad or no risk assessments and inadequate or slow responses by Malta’s police. The courts’ lack of resources and the Magistrate’s workload were the reasons behind the delay in cases being assigned and heard.

Another set of recommendations to ignore?

Several of the judge’s observations and recommendations were highlighted by activists and NGOs as well as national and international assessments, which Valenzia points out before listing his own set of proposals.

“There is as much research as you like, and sermons have been delivered for years, but in practice, nothing is done, although it is known that the system is not working,” he observed.

Valenzia’s recommendations can be added to the Council of Europe’s first baseline evaluation report by GREVIO, which was published at the end of 2020 and had already concluded that there was insufficient training of law-enforcement officials concerning violence against women.

The report also recommended that the relevant authorities conduct risk assessments systematically and speedily. It noted how protection orders in their current form are inadequate in preventing a crime.

Nonetheless, in keeping with its overall attitude towards suggestions, the government failed to address GREVIO’s recommendations with the urgency they deserved.

More recently, the Times of Malta reported that a study into domestic violence commissioned by the government and finalised in 2021 remained unpublished.

The study also found court delays and a lack of police resources, among other issues as well as under-resourcing, understaffing, burnout and a lack of overall coordination between the entities involved.

When asked whether there are areas of concern currently being ignored, Borg reiterates that anything related to women’s issues is not taken seriously enough, and for far too long, these issues “have been relegated to the back burner with clear consequences”.

This includes the “piecemeal approach” to setting up Gender-Based and Domestic Violence Unit hubs across the country that are being proposed without proper consideration of what women seeking help might need.

“All this indicates that there needs to be proper consultation and planning with women in mind adopting a holistic approach that focuses on how the many parts of the systems relate together,” Borg concludes.