Fourteen women, all under 30, have sought the help of the newly set-up sexual assault response team so far this year but only five opted to file a police report.

The Sexual Assault Response Team (Sart) started operating at Mater Dei Hospital in March. Eleven cases were reported in all of last year.

Of the 14 women – including nine Maltese nationals – seven made use of follow-up services that included free access to legal and psychological support, according to Krista Tabone, from Victim Support Malta, which works to support victims of crime. (See comments above)

Sart provides a 24-hour, on-call service of a doctor, nurse, social worker and (when requested) the police to provide victims with the dignity and treatment needed to help them recover. The victims are also offered follow-up services.

Before Sart was launched, the hospital operated a policy whereby, doctors could only examine a victim once the police arrived. But this was felt to be counter-productive in some cases and a victim can now choose not to involve the police.

Victim Support Malta can be contacted on 2122 8333 or through Facebook.