The national data office is being urged to team up with the Commission on Domestic Violence to produce detailed statistics about intimate partner violence, which in Malta gets reported by only one out of six victims.
Most women in the EU who are abused by their partners do not call the police: only one in three who is physically or sexually abused contacts the authorities.
In Malta, the situation is even worse, with data showing that while 12% of women have been victims of intimate partner violence, only 14% of them contacted the police.
In the lead up to the international day for the elimination of violence against women on Sunday, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on Thursday launched a new study to improve data collection on intimate partner violence by the police and justice sectors.
Read: Why is it so hard for women to escape domestic violence?
“Data from the police and the judiciary… can help member states check whether their actions to prevent violence, protect victims and punish perpetrators are working and help them design more effective measures in the future,” according to EIGE director Virginija Langbakk.
Help them design more effective measures in the future
As things stand, different legal definitions of violence-related crimes make it impossible to compare data across member states. Also, some forms of violence do not get registered as crimes and not all complaints are recorded electronically or in a way that helps one understand the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.
In a Malta-specific report, EIGE notes that data recording systems used by the criminal courts do not produce statistics. There is limited statistical information on the cases of domestic violence and on the parties involved in such incidents and EIGE calls for necessary steps to put in place a system of recording information.
Read: Domestic violence victims should get 10-days paid leave - think-tank
It notes that the National Statistics Office stopped compiling and publishing crime statistics in 2011. The police compile crime statistics and liaise with Eurostat to report on crimes recorded on its database. However, the database only covers a limited number of offences, which leaves out the overall number of registered incidents by the police.
It also notes that the Commission on Domestic Violence’s annual report, the only source of information available on the incidents of domestic violence, should include more detailed information.
The EIGE adds that, since crime statistics are already produced by the police, the NSO could focus on cultivating a close relationship with the commission, which specialises in statistics on domestic violence. “This would provide the expertise the commission needs to produce the harmonised statistics in a more detailed and sustainable manner,” it notes.
What is intimate partner violence?
All acts of violence between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim. It constitutes a form of violence that affects women disproportionately and is, therefore, distinctly gendered.