The maximum sentence handed down to convicted rapists could soon be doubled to 20 years if provisions of a new Bill are enacted into law.
Tabled by Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli on Monday, the Bill also seeks to increase the penalty for sexual activities with minors by five years to 15 years, with the sentence further increasing according to the severity of the case.
The penalty for a charge of abduction would more than treble to 10 years.
Speaking during a parliamentary adjournment on Monday evening, Dr Dalli said that, if enacted, the Bill would effectively clamp down on domestic violence and rape.
Dr Dalli said the legal definition of rape – currently limited only to penile penetration – should include other forms of unwanted sexual contact currently defined as sexual assault.
The legal definition of domestic violence, she added, should also be widened to refer to acts entailing physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners.
If you can’t resolve disagreement using discussion, and must resort to violence, then something is not right
Under provision of the new Bill, the police would be able to prosecute people on charges of rape and abduction without the prior complaint of the injured party.
On domestic violence, the Bill also seeks to ensure that the law is fully compliant with the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating domestic violence – which Malta ratified two years ago.
Last month, the Times of Malta reported how 845 people had been charged with domestic violence so far this year.
Official figures had shown how 571 of the accused were men, of whom 75 were foreigners, and 274 were women, 12 of whom were not Maltese.
Meanwhile, Dr Dalli yesterday addressed an annual conference of the Commission on Domestic Violence, heralding the Bill as a step in the right direction. She said that even if the changes were enacted, a lot more still needed to be done to combat domestic violence.
Harsher penalties and campaigns to encourage victims to speak out were important but so was tackling the matter at the root. “If you can’t resolve disagreement using discussion, and must resort to violence, physical or otherwise, then something is not right. Treatment of the perpetrator goes hand-in-hand with offering support to victims,” she said.
Official figures tabled in Parliament show that the police received 1,205 reports on domestic violence last year, a 300 per cent increase over 2008.
Dr Dalli said that in recent years there had been a notable increase in the number of reported cases of domestic violence, however, fear and shame were still preventing a lot of women from coming forward. “In the past, the prevailing mentality was that the police and society did not interfere between the walls of a household, meaning that domestic violence went unreported,” she said.
Family Minister Michael Farrugia also addressed yesterday’s conference, saying that more needed to be done for children subject to or exposed to domestic violence. This, he said, was traumatic and often untreated.
“We must not forget the children. We offer help to the woman and, in some cases, offer help to men, however treatment is not always given to the children,” Dr Farrugia said.