Domestic violence victims should report officers who refused to help when they called at police stations, Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar said yesterday.
“Help us improve the police force. Report these officers. Let’s not accommodate these lazy, corrupt policemen,” he told a conference on domestic violence.
He was reacting to accounts by two domestic violence victims who both criticised the manner in which some police officers dealt with them. Mr Cassar was speaking during a seminar organised by the Malta Confederation of Women's Organisations,
One of them, who used the fictitious name Maria, said she once called the police station for help while her angry husband was standing outside her house carrying a gun and threatening her.
“He told me I had to go to the police station and file a report. He expected me to get out of the house,” she told a room full of people who attended the public dialogue, entitled Empowering Women Against Violence, at Europe House, in Valletta.
Mr Cassar said it was important that people reported such cases.
When asked how he expected a vulnerable woman to report the officer she might have to face in the future, he said there were various structures in place.
Reports could be made through the local council, the police forces’ human recourses office, the Permanent Commission against Corruption, the officer’s superior or directly to the Police Commissioner.
Mr Cassar said that a few years ago he had circulated guidelines to all police officers detailing how to deal with victims of domestic violence.
Roberta Leprè, director of Victim Support Malta, suggested the guidelines be posted in all police stations for the public to see “in the name of transparency”. This would allow a victim to know when the guidelines were not followed, she said.
Mr Cassar noted that the guidelines were not public documents because they dealt with internal policy.
On a different note, he said the courts should cooperate better with the police. The concept of ex officio – through which the police can prosecute a case of domestic violence without a report by the victim – should extend to the courts, he said. There were instances when the courts threw out a case because the victim did not testify against her husband.
Marceline Naudi, a lecturer at the University’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, said most men found guilty of domestic violence were not being ordered to attend a reform programme for perpetrators. Such programme was offered by the government’s social agency Appoġġ.
She also pointed out that, although the law allowed cases of domestic violence to be fast-tracked by the police and taken to court within four days, this was not happening.
The law also allowed the police to remove a perpetrator from the matrimonial home and take him to court for a protection order to be issued. However, this was not happening and victims were being forced to leave their homes, she said.
Dr Naudi added that, about 10 years ago, the government said it would equip shelters with computers and internet connections so victims could obtain documents they needed to free themselves of their abusers without having to chase papers through government corridors. This had not happened.
Dr Leprè said there was a need for political courage to tackle domestic violence. “The field is massively underfunded and under resourced.”
SURVIVING BUT STILL VICTIMS
Rita* was sexually and psychologically abused during her seven-year-marriage.
Her husband took control over her by forcing her to stop working and isolating her from her friends and relatives.
She only managed to leave after she started working part-time and saved enough money to afford a lawyer to start separation proceedings.
One day, when her husband was not home, she packed some belongings and left the house with her two children. She went to the police station where a helpful officer directed her to Appoġġ agency from where she was directed to a shelter. Her children needed support but there were long waiting lists for Appoġġ’s psychological services.
She eventually got a separation but, due to lack of direction, she agreed to a measly €200 in maintenance as she did not know what an acceptable amount was.
“This was three-and-a-half years ago and today I’m still a victim. People, here, are calling me a survivor. But I’m barely surviving... I keep finding closed doors,” she said, adding that she was struggling to make ends meet.
Whenever her husband failed to pay maintenance, a criminal offence, she filed a police report. But on several occasions charges were dropped due to mistakes by the officer taking down the report.
She received €420 a month in social benefits and spent €200 on rent. From the rest of the money she had to pay bills, buy food and maintain her two children.
She recently applied for a part-time job and was turned down for someone with “less family responsibilities” after she was asked about her status. Now, while the children are at school, she does voluntary work.
“Some people ask why victims remain in abusive situations... It’s so daunting to actually get out and survive,” she said, sharing her experience at a public dialogue entitled Empowering Women Against Violence, at Europe House, in Valletta.
Maria* too experienced physical abuse daily and having a gun pointed against her head was the order of the day.
“My life and that of my children depended on whether my husband had a good or bad day at work,” she said.
Like Rita, she feels she is still a victim even after she plucked up the courage to leave. She gave in to her husband taking sole custody of the children, on paper, but she actually raised them without benefits.
She criticised the police for not taking her plight seriously enough when she called for help and also criticised the courts for not being sensitive enough towards victims of abuse. She called for better protection of children’s rights.
*names have been changed