Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg is calling for more specialised training for people working among migrants to be able to spot victims of sexual violence.

“The people who first come into contact with migrants must be trained to spot victims of sexual violence and help them psychologically and not just care for those who are ill.

“We need to understand where these people are coming from. We can’t let them fend for themselves in a completely alien country,” she said.

Speaking during a public forum organised by Soroptimist International Malta, Ms Buttigieg stressed that Malta must not be a safe haven for perpetrators, including politicians or army leaders who condoned sexual rape in conflict or looked the other way.

She told Times of Malta the problem with the citizenship scheme was that Malta could risk harbouring such individuals.

She asked whether Malta was following international protocol for dealing with victims of rape and sexual violence in conflict.

A historic London summit in June, which Ms Buttigieg attended, issued guidelines on the investigation of sex crimes and the collection of evidence for future prosecutions. “I was overwhelmed with what I saw and heard. It was very shocking,” she said.

Malta is not a war zone country but victims of violence do reach our shores

She quoted UK Foreign Secretary William Hague – who co-hosted the summit with film star Angelina Jolie – who said: “For decades, if not centuries, there has been a near-total absence of justice for survivors of rape and sexual violence in conflict.

“We hope this protocol will be part of a new global effort to shatter this culture of impunity, helping survivors and deterring people from committing these crimes in the first place.”

Sexual violence, Ms Buttigieg continued, was a particularly heinous form of violence and included rape and any other attack of a sexual nature perpetrated against women and girls, men and boys.

The consequences were brutal and included acute physical and psychological repercussions apart from having a deep, destabilising effect on communities.

The perpetrators could be anyone, from soldiers meant to be protecting the victim, to the enemy and even neighbours of the victim.

Hotspots for sexual violence in conflict, which is used as a weapon of war, include Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Libya.

“Malta is not a war zone country but victims of violence do reach our shores. Migrants come to Malta from all these areas,” Ms Buttigieg said.

“A person travelling from Uganda would go to Sudan, where extreme sexual violence is practised and then on to Libya, a country where extreme sexual violence is also practised.

“When migrants arrive in Malta, we give them fantastic medical assistance. We should go a step further and take legal action against those who harmed these people,” she said.

Rape was not a women’s issue or even a humanitarian topic but a global matter, she stressed.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said psychosocial professionals required better training to deal with victims of sexual violence in conflict.

The sexual response assault unit, set up last year, also had to be further enhanced to meet the needs of such victims.

She appealed to MPs and MEPs to bring the issue to the forefront.

Audience members, many representing NGOs, said the police should be better trained in dealing with victims of sexual violence and the system must find its continuation in social workers and the judicial system.

“How can you rape a child and are only jailed for three years?” a member of the audience asked.

It was the perpetrator who should be removed from the family home and not the victim, it was pointed out.

Others raised the point that sexual violence was often perceived as a woman’s issue but it was a societal one, which also required the participation and commitment of men.

It was not merely the victims who needed help but also the perpetrators themselves.

Shelter for perpetrators

It was time for Malta to have a shelter for perpetrators of domestic violence and not just their victims, Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli told Times of Malta.

She agreed the perpetrator was the one who should be removed from the family home and not the victim and her children, as it was disruptive, especially for children who would need to go to school the following morning.

“That way, we would have a place where the men could be taken and they would also receive counselling, which would help them break the cycle of abuse.”

The government, she said, was working with the police academy to strengthen the modules aimed at training officers how to handle domestic violence cases.