Politicians tend to enjoy the limelight, but handling a political crisis in the full glare of the media can be hugely stressful. Lawrence Gonzi’s eyesight was affected due to the immense pressure of his last year in office.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando infamously broke down in tears at a public meeting before the 2008 election. Justyne Caruana was pregnant during a political debacle some time ago, and feared she would lose her baby with the stress.
The political front line is a tough place. For various reasons, it is even harder for women than for men. Of a total of 69 MPs in our Parliament, only nine are women.
The level of stress and tension experienced by MP Marlene Farrugia last week, when she resigned from the Labour Party, must have been very high. She received masses of public support but was also viciously torn to shreds by others.
True, she chose to resign, but staying quiet about issues she felt strongly about was clearly not an option for her.
A disgusting incident unfolded last week when Farrugia was shouted at and insulted in Parliament by Labour MP Joe Debono Grech, who even threatened her with physical violence, saying he would beat her up. Farrugia interpreted this as gender-based aggression and plenty of other people viewed it in the same way.
Was the threat gender-based or not? Put it this way, a 76-year-old man publicly threatening to beat up a strong and healthy 50-year-old man might appear somewhat unrealistic, and perhaps not be taken seriously.
The same threat directed against a woman, however, did not appear at all unrealistic. The power balance is completely different. The immediate public response was to take it very seriously indeed.
Debono Grech’s threat was widely perceived as having an element of gender-based aggression. His apology, made after an outcry condemning his behaviour, has not quite removed the sour taste left by this incident.
As Helena Dalli reminded us in Parliament soon afterwards, when judging aggression against women, context is everything. Sometimes, she pointed out, it must be taken into consideration that men are provoked by constant psychological or emotional abuse from a woman. In other words, pressure on the man can create vulnerability and lead to verbal aggression.
Well, if we are to focus on contexts, then let us do so.
Firstly, in the context of the recent incident in Parliament, Dalli’s words seemed wholly inappropriate. Rightly or not, they were understood as a snipe at Farrugia and a veiled justification of Debono Grech’s behaviour.
Ladies, how can you gang up and let pass the behaviour of an aggressive man who tries to bully a woman MP in Parliament?
To add irony to the drama, Dalli is the Minister for Civil Liberties, and that same day switched on some orange lights at the Portes des Bombes in Floriana to commemorate the International Day against Violence against Women.
Secondly, the actual context of the threats of violence against Farrugia is that Debono Grech was sitting well out of the political fray, on the backbenches.
Farrugia, on the other hand, was under intense and nerve-wracking emotional pressure, and in the centre of the storm. If anyone was vulnerable at this moment, it was Farrugia and certainly not Debono Grech.
He only entered the fray to bully and to hurl abuse at Farrugia, who was obviously already in a difficult position. She did not cower down, but reacted, fired back and tried to stand her ground.
The match was also unequal because Debono Grech had a group of around 30 supportive Labour MPs around him, most of whom are men, while Farrugia was alone. This isolation is intimidating in itself, even without any gender differences.
Still, Dalli did not give much support to Farrugia.
Someone pulling the strings might have thought it good tactics to have the three women MPs on the government benches defending Debono Grech’s behaviour. After all, he was being accused of verbal aggression towards a woman, so best to have all the women standing by him to defuse the situation.
Justyne Caruana seized the opportunity to remind the chamber about her own stressful incident in Parliament five years ago, which is actually unrelated as it was not gender-driven. She also did not show much support for Farrugia. Her own past experiences were more important and real to her than anyone else’s ongoing trauma.
The third woman Labour MP is Deborah Schembri and, sure enough, she obliged and made a speech. Needless to say, this was not a big show of support for Farrugia.
Schembri sounded like a lawyer trying to clutch at any argument possible to defend her imaginary client Debono Grech. She even suggested that as he is in his 70s, Farrugia’s response to him might be construed as an act against the elderly, who should be protected. The less said on this, the better.
Ladies, honestly. You have let the side down. How can you gang up and let pass the behaviour of an aggressive man who tries to bully a woman MP in Parliament? The message is so discouraging.
You must know that women look up to you as politicians, and hope that you will stand up for them when needed. Consider the wider context, beyond the political bickering. The struggle for equality is not quite over yet.
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