Dressed in black, a group of about 50 people walked silently through Valletta’s Republic Street yesterday carrying posters through which they demanded immediate protection for victims of domestic violence.

Their message, delivered through the posters, was clear: Take threats seriously. We need protection now. Time can cost lives. The fear is real.

“Domestic violence is underrated... These women need help. They are often consumed by fear and many only seek help after suffering years of abuse. They need immediate help,” a woman who works in a shelter for battered women told The Times.

She was among the people, many of who work with domestic violence victims, who joined the silent demonstration aimed at voicing the plight of the hundreds of victims who suffered in silence.

The need for the immediate protection of victims was highlighted again by the tragic case 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.

Although none of the banners specifically made reference to the murder, several passers-by made the link as they whispered between them that the protest must be about “the shooting of that woman”.

As the demonstrators slowly made their way from City Gate to the law courts, people in Republic Street stopped to read the messages on the posters and some took photos of the event.

Some men joked between themselves saying they were victims of their wives who abused them by bossing them around at home. A few, more seriously, walked past the demonstrators mouthing derogatory comments.

An EU survey published a few months ago showed that 79 per cent of Maltese believed that domestic violence is provoked.

Romina Baldwin, from Victim Support Malta, pointed out that domestic violence led to an array of social problems that included poverty and substance abuse. Children, who witnessed the abuse, also suffered psychologically.

“That is why domestic violence is a problem for all of society and not only women,” she said.

Soon after the murder of Ms Sammut, Victim Support Malta director Roberta Lepre pointed out that 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.

When a report is filed, the police have two options to prosecute. In serious cases, they can arrest the alleged perpetrator and take him/her to court within 48 hours. In less serious cases, the perpetrator is served with a summons and told to turn up in court. It could take months for the case to start.

Victims experience a cycle of abuse and when they are attacked or beaten that cycle is at its peak. This means that, if they file a report at the time the violence peaks, the perpetrator gets even angrier because the police are brought in.

Therefore, when a report is filed, a victim requires more protection than ever, Dr Lepre said.

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.

Emotional abuse emerged as the most prevalent followed by physical and sexual abuse. The results also showed that 11 per cent had contemplated suicide and some actually tried to end their lives.

More than half of the abused women never sought help. Of those who did, about a quarter went to the police.