The feasibility of a sexual assault response team is being studied to fast-track services for victims who would need a variety of assessments to be conducted as quickly and as easily as possible.
We cannot remain dependent on the charisma of a police officer and the goodwill of a social worker
Helping the victim move forward required teamwork, not the police and social workers operating in isolation in serious cases that called for serious decisions, said the chairman of the Commission on Domestic Violence, Joanna Xuereb.
Every step in responding to domestic violence and sexual assault had to be fast-tracked – from hospital intervention to the courts, she said, insisting that victims “cannot be left hanging around”.
The Domestic Violence Commission has been actively working on changes to a law that was enacted in 2006.
The drafting of the Bill was at an advanced stage and Ms Xuereb was confident the changes would soon be implemented although the process was lengthy.
It was not just about recommending changes to the Domestic Violence Act and obtaining approval but also about learning and understanding its strengths, setting up the necessary structures and seeing it work in practice, she explained.
A structure for inter-professional practices, formalised within a framework, was important, she added. “We cannot remain dependent on the charisma of a police officer and the goodwill of a social worker who decide to take the case all the way.”
Ms Xuereb said the police were undergoing training to handle domestic violence as were other professionals including lawyers, the judiciary, social and healthcare workers.
“We need a formalised structure to link it all together. We cannot leave it up to the existing good relations between the social workers and the police,” she said.
Ms Xuereb was speaking at a walk-and-talk event organised by the Siġġiewi Youth Initiative to raise awareness about domestic violence.
Participants, wearing T-shirts featuring the slogan Against Domestic Violence, walked from the Love sculpture in St Julians to Sliema, where a panel addressed those present.
The general message from the members of the panel – family therapist Charlie Azzopardi, Three Cities Foundation CEO Flavia Zimmermann, Renee Laiviera, chairman of the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations, and an Appoġġ social worker, who preferred not to be named – was for victims to speak out and report incidents because they were not alone.
Society too had to support them to find the strength to speak out but the reality was that the number of women turning to the police was the tip of the iceberg and that others suffered in silence.
They also pointed out that male victims of domestic violence should not be overlooked, although the vast majority were women.
As regards male victims, Dr Azzopardi mentioned “atrocious” cases where police laughed off their reports, boiling the incident down to a scratch and undermining them psychologically.
Dr Azzopardi maintained that the narrow vision of domestic violence had to be broadened both legally and socially.
“Locally, we have to review what is domestic and what constitutes violence. Sometimes, it is accepted. The mother of the victim may be present but she does not stop the violence while non-professional advice recommends patience and love for the perpetrator,” he said.
In EU member states, governments spent €1 million every 30 minutes to deal with domestic violence, according to an international study, Ms Laiviera pointed out.