The National Audit Office (NAO) expressed concern today that the Appogg social welfare agency in its programmes on domestic violence is geared towards addressing abuse perpetrated against women, while attending to male victims is largely considered to be a distant secondary priority. The agency was also found lacking in programmes aimed at female perpetrators.
“While NAO fully acknowledges the fact that victims of domestic violence are principally female and commends the Agency’s work with this category, research shows that a portion of the male population is also subjected to such abuse,” it said in a report tabled in Parliament.
“ To this end, NAO opines that Appoġġ, even more so it being the National Agency entrusted with tackling domestic violence, is obliged to actively cater for all potential victims, irrespective of their gender.”
The audit office noted that recorded attendance of Appoġġ’s Men’s Programme, and more importantly the reported very low average amount of individuals who successfully complete this course every year, is a significant cause for concern.
“While the initiative is highly commendable, the fact that perpetrators attend it on a voluntary basis and that a considerable number of those attending do so to deceitfully re-acquire their victims’ trust, heavily dilutes the potential benefits the programme is intended to provide,” it said.
“ Further compounding the latter concern is the fact that the programme formulated by the Agency to assist perpetrators of domestic abuse is specifically targeted at men, with no efforts being actively directed at tackling the problem of female abusers. In this Office’s opinion, this situation is a significant shortcoming as it may potentially be marginalising a particular segment of domestic abuse victims by failing to tackle the source of their exploitation.”
The audit office also complained of staff shortages at Appogg and gaps in the training of its staff.
NAO also expressed concern about waiting lists for Appogg due to lack of resources.
“This Office recommends that the Agency first conducts an internal review so that it may identify and address any inefficiencies in the manner by which the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) operates. Should this review be insufficient to address this issue, NAO recommends that Appoġġ explores the possibility of relocating any underutilised resources from its other units. Failing both of the above recommendation, this Offices encourages the Agency to recruit additional staff so that it may attend to all its clients in an adequate and timely manner,” the audit office said.
It said it was also ‘strongly recommending’ that Appogg should give due attention to female perpetrators, even if they are fewer than their male counterparts, as they are also a reality which contributes to the overall problem.
In its report the audit office also said there was an evident lack of a coordinated approach between all seven government entities insofar as domestic violence was concerned.
It said it had reviewed the operational systems of the Commission on Domestic Violence, Appoġġ, the Police, the Courts, the Department for Probation and Parole, the Health Department and the Education Directorates.
While some of the reviewed departments did communicate with one another on operational considerations, others lacked the coordination necessary to address the situation, the audit office said.
Full report at http://www.nao.gov.mt/news.aspx?nid=108