The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality said yesterday it had intervened in 60 gender discriminatory adverts in 2012, most of which appeared in newspapers, magazines and on local news websites.
The commission said it had ordered changes to the adverts.
As many as 55 of the reported promotions included discriminatory slogans and messages, and the other five were found to contain discriminatory gender images, the commission said.
Addressing the commission’s ninth annual conference, executive director Romina Bartolo said that over the past months the NCPE had increased its efforts to counter all forms of discriminatory publications.
Dr Bartolo highlighted the extension of the commission’s remit as a “major milestone in combating discrimination”.
It now includes discrimination based on religion, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.
She said the NCPE had received 17 reports of workplace discrimination last year.
Most of them revolved around sexual harassment and discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation.
Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli told Times of Malta that while the figure might seem low this was probably down to the problem of many women not reporting such cases.
This is a milestone in combating discrimination
Dr Dalli said that while there had been an increased effort to stamp out gender discrimination, female participation was still disappointingly low.
Malta has the second lowest female employment rate in the EU after Greece.
Dr Dalli said that among the problems facing women were the lack of family-friendly measures and a gender pay gap, which, she noted, had put many women off joining the workforce.
“Consensus about the economic and social benefits of employing women and actually delivering are two very different things. This government is committed to delivering equality,” she said.
The commission yesterday awarded the Equality Mark Certificate to Simonds Farsons Cisk Plc and Food Chain Ltd.
This certificate is given to companies or organisations that have implemented occupational policies and practices guaranteeing gender equality.
Dr Bartolo said that last year 19 companies had been certified, representing 2,021 employees and bringing the total number of certified companies up to 53 with 15,714 employees.