Low awareness about domestic violence

Malta still lacked awareness about domestic violence, Appogg chief executive officer Joe Gerada said yesterday.

Appogg provides support to children and women, victims of domestic violence.

The social welfare agency has organised a domestic violence training programme bringing together police officers, social workers, psychologists, shelter staff, psychotherapists and representatives from the voluntary sector.

The participants were addressed by Arlene Vetere, a chartered consultant clinical psychologist and family therapist, and by Jan Cooper, a family therapist.

"We were pleased to discover during the first part of the training programme that despite working in two different countries, Malta and the UK, we and the participants found there was a good fit between our experiences, both in the working context and in practice. We hope to establish further working links," said Drs Cooper and Vetere.

The training programme was launched by Helen D'Amato, MP who stressed that domestic violence struck at the heart of the family with devastating effects on children and mothers.

Social workers, family doctors, teachers, the police and the clergy needed to work together to identify these situations and possibly take action at an early stage.

Appogg will launch a week-long awareness campaign on domestic violence next month.

The training programme was funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation.