A student-led public seminar on family violence and the law was organised by the University’s Faculty of Laws.

Students presented key findings in their research that raised such questions as whether marital rape is a silent crime in Maltese society, and whether elder abuse in the family is more or less serious than child abuse.

Other issues raised were the relationship between a culturally constructed notion of masculinity and violence in the family, and whether stranger sexual assault should be punished more strongly than incest. Another major issue of concern was the prevalence of adolescent-to-mother violence, which remains one of the most hidden forms of family violence and is the least researched in Malta.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca presided and concluded the event.

Coleiro Preca spoke about her experience of listening to students in schools who openly expressed dissatisfaction with realities in their respective families, and about the repercussions these were having on their health and personal well-being.

The seminar was coordinated by Frances Camilleri-Cassar from the Faculty of Laws.