Civil Rights Minister Helena Dalli insisted on equality in the way domestic violence was viewed, and insisted that women who suffered abuse should not play the victim if they were guilty of emotional abuse. 

Ms Dalli was speaking in Parliament on the world day focused on the elimination of violence against women.

She said the government was committed to strengthening the law to ensure  victims of domestic violence, including children, were adequately protected.

The government was also setting up a new comprehensive database on domestic violence. Various public awareness campaigns were also being carried out. 

Malta had also been at the forefront of the Istanbul Convention Against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women and was among the first countries to ratify it. 

Dr Dalli said that while penalties against those who caused domestic violence had been increased, action was also being taken to help perpetrators, where possible.

In most cases of physical violence, men were to blame, Dr Dalli said. But domestic violence was both emotional/verbal and physical. In the case of the former, there were also many men who were victims.

The Domestic Violence Act therefore protected both men and women in both emotional and physical violence.

Every case had to be seen in its context. For example, when a woman shouted abuse and provoked an incident and the man reacted, one could not then play the victim.

In an equal society, one could not ignore verbal/emotional violence. In cases of physical violence, men were inevitably blamed, but when a woman insulted her husband and the man replied, both should be condemned. Being aggressive and violent did not pay.

When a woman played the victim when she would have contributed to abuse through tongue lashing, she would be a disservice to the real victims of abuse.

"If I lash out with my tongue, I have to expect retaliation... If I tell you something, Mr President, I would not expect you not to reply because I am a woman. God forbid that that is the case," the minister said. 

In a country of equality one had to ensure that giving a right to one side did not mean denying a right to another. Verbal and physical abuse were both wrong.

In a reaction on Facebook, independent MP Marlene Farrugia said she had understood Dr Dalli's comments as being an "attempt to justify the threat of the use of violence against women" and therefore, by extrapolation, physical violence on women could be justified according to context.

This, Dr Farrugia said, was shameful.

It was no surprise that battered women in this country had given up hope of protection and justice. 

Speaking later in the evening sitting following comments on her morning remarks, Dr Dalli said her track record on gender equality stood her in good stead, as well as her contributions to Times of Malta over the years.

She never said that women could somehow invite physical violence. She always said that physical violence was unacceptable under any circumstances.

Dr Farrugia noted that she had been the one who in 1998 issued a White Paper on tackling violence against women. The subsequent PN government took three years to enact a law.

Dr Dalli said she never said that physical violence should be seen in context. She always said that physical violence could never be justified. It was verbal violence which had to be seen in context and when one spoke in a certain manner, one could expect a like reaction.

No violence, especially physical violence, could be tolerated.

Opposition MP Claudette Buttigieg, speaking on the adjournment, said the minister's morning comments were unacceptable, shameful and degrading.

See blog by Ramona Depares at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/author/25