Demonstration on domestic violence

A silent demonstration will be held today to press for immediate protection of victims of domestic violence.

The event, organised by Victim Support Malta and a group of citizens, will start at Valletta’s City Gate at 3 p.m. and the group will then walk towards the law courts.

The initiative follows the recent murder of 40-year-old Christina Sammut who was shot four weeks after she filed a report at the Rabat police station claiming her former partner had chased her with a knife.

Soon after the shooting, on December 11, her ex-boyfriend, Kenneth Gafà turned himself in to the police. He was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to shooting Ms Sammut in Żebbiegħ where she had gone to meet her new boyfriend.

Victim Support Malta director Roberta Leprè had said domestic violence reports should be treated with more urgency by the police who often processed them as district court sittings heard months after the complaint was lodged.

“The police need more sensitivity training to help them realise that when victims file a report they are at their most vulnerable and need more protection than ever,” she said when contacted.

Unfortunately, she added, it was at the discretion of the police inspector at the police station where the report was lodged to determine whether a case should be treated as urgent or not. Sometimes, cases were not treated as urgent because the victim was not injured, Dr Leprè said.

She said the latest murder could not be blamed on police inaction. However, the fact remained that the police had to be trained to understand the complexities of domestic violence.

A recent study on the prevalence of domestic violence in Malta showed that a quarter of women have been physically, emotionally or sexually abused by their husband or partner. More than half of the abused women never sought help.