The feminine touch

Doreen Micallef, the new president of the National Council of Women, is a doer and, though she knows that changing a culture can take a lot of time, she is prepared to walk the walk. She speaks to Ariadne Massa about the council's new challenges.

Sitting in a bare room at the premises of the National Council of Women, in Blata l-Bajda, Ms Micallef fills the place with her energy to bring about change.

Beneath the soft-spoken voice is a 42-year-old woman who gets things done - she is the director of two companies, a part-time lecturer at MCAST, helps her husband run his clinic, is a mother of a 13-year-old daughter... and since January the council's new president.

A council member since 1999, she believes every woman should do her bit to bring about change and is saddened by the fact that there aren't more young women active in non-governmental organisations.

"We need women from all social spheres. The more variety we have, the more we can address the problems with an open mind. People think they have to contribute a lot, but really and truly every little bit of input helps. It needn't take up so much of their time," she said.

"The dearth of young women in NGOs is a problem we face all the time. I hope I can be an example to them," she added, without any hint of pride in her voice.

Elected for a two-year term, renewable for another two years, Ms Micallef will be focusing her energies on the council's resolutions passed during its last annual general meeting.

The list of 10 resolutions have already been passed on to the Prime Minister's Office, government departments and embassies and the council will now be holding a series of meetings to establish how these goals can be achieved.

One of the resolutions tackles the new vaccination against cervical cancer. The council is urging the government to provide this vaccination for free to all young girls aged between 12 and 16.

The world's first vaccine to protect women against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes most cervical cancers, became available in Malta in November. However, it comes at price of about Lm180 for a three-jab course and there is a growing debate, making the news in other European countries, that governments should provide it for free.

Italy has become the first EU country to provide the vaccine free to 12-year-olds. For the time being, the Maltese government has no intention of introducing the vaccine as part of a national programme and the council is hoping it can change its mind.

"Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer affecting the general health and reproductive future of women. We believe that in this case prevention will come cheaper, so let's invest in the future of our young children," Ms Micallef said.

Another resolution that ties in with this is the need for greater awareness of sexually transmitted diseases, which are leading to infertility problems, among others.

The council is urging the government to sustain educational and preventive measures regarding the spread of STDs, among both parents and young people.

Still on the subject of health, the council is broaching its concerns on the rising obesity statistics, urging the government to step up its educational campaigns.

One resolution that is close to Ms Micallef's heart is the one that delves into the family and demographic change; a resolution that tackles so many factors that it has been split into various sections.

"The family is evolving beyond the traditional model - from extramarital births, to single parents and late childbearing. We need to make sure that everyone's rights are being respected," she said.

The council points out that families today are not in an environment that is conducive to child rearing. The cost of bringing up children as well as dual work households are some of the problems young couples face.

The council feels more effective policies should be in place to provide an environment that will enable families to have children at any age.

The low birth rate in Malta is one of the issues to be tackled. The council is recommending that national policies should address the issues that are having a negative impact on the birth rate such as late access to employment, job instability, expensive housing, lack of incentives to enter the labour market and lack of balanced distribution of household and family tasks between men and women.

Another point related to family matters is the need for retirement schemes that promote more flexible bridges between work and retirement in order to retain older workers in the labour market for longer.

The transfer of knowledge to young workers and vice-versa is another way of offering possibilities to improve intergenerational relationships, it is suggested.

Ms Micallef also feels the need to address gender equality from a men's perspective as men they have a lot to give and much to gain in this matter.

One step towards achieving this, she said, is to address stereotyping and violence in the media to enhance the "partnership" concept between men and women.

"A culture change is necessary, and I know it will take a long time until we achieve equality. It can be a frustrating exercise but with time we will get there," she said.

"There are moments when I feel we've made great strides ahead, but then you meet somebody and you realise that some people's mentality is still years back. There are couples who practise equality at home, but then there are situations where the husband doesn't lift a finger and prevents the woman from leaving the house to work."

Another move would be to eliminate the typecasting present in school books, such as the repeating of old phrases that the father goes to work and the mother remains at home.

"We need to start integrating the realities of single parents and immigrants into our lives and within our educational system," she said.

Marriage courses should also include men's perspective on gender equality in the home, at the workplace and society at large.

Parents should also be trained to create awareness of meaningful relationships based on gender equality and to bring up boys and girls as equal partners in their daily life.

Another important resolution touches on the need for greater involvement of all legal, educational, mental health, medical and welfare professionals in the fight against domestic violence. There should be ongoing training for these professionals so that they can identify the problem at an early stage and provide adequate training to the people affected.

The council is proposing an integrated and comprehensive strategy through a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach rooted in early intervention.

All these resolutions sound very convincing and are necessary, but does she fear that they will remain merely ideas put on paper?

"If we want to get there we have to nag. With the right platform and solid arguments we'll get there," she said with a convincing smile.