Somebody, somewhere within the government must be obsessed with gender equality. It is, of course, laudable to implement sensible measures ensuring that all of those able and willing have the same opportunities irrespective of their sex. But one must be careful not to allow one’s obsession to take the matter to such extremes that risk bringing a noble cause to ridicule.

Take the latest directive give to the police. The Malta Independent reported on Wednesday the police have been instructed to “avoid exposing gender” when issuing statements to the media. It quoted a “spokesperson” of the police community and media relations unit saying that “as a result of reforms relating to transgender individual policies, we have been instructed to change the way we deal with these individuals by being neutral and, therefore, avoiding the exposure of their gender”.

The Times of Malta immediately contacted the police unit asking for a copy of the relevant circular for guidance. The officer in charge promptly replied the request was being “processed”. That was Wednesday late afternoon but our request was still being “processed” at the time of writing this leader yesterday lunchtime. What exactly the police meant by processing the request is not yet clear since it had evidently already addressed the topic when it replied to the questions put by The Malta Indepenent.

But the main point being raised here is the logic behind the directive, which to many is illogical.

The police may have a leg to stand on when they defend their decision not to mention names in their media releases. They will argue they would have to first ensure the next of kin are informed or that the individual’s right to privacy must be safeguarded, which are valid reasons even if they too may be debatable in certain situations.

However, to decide not to say whether a victim or somebody involved in an accident/incident is a man or a woman is risible.

Some time ago, the police even stopped informed the media whether a victim was on the danger list and they now only speak of “slight”, “serious” or “grievous” injuries.

The next thing we know is they will stop giving the locality where an accident occurred on the pretext that certain places might be branded as danger areas or black spots.

It must also be pointed out that it has not become rare for the police media unit to issue a communication about an accident, even of a serious nature, hours later, at times even on the following day.

So, the latest gender ‘blackout’ directive might simply be following this ‘trend’ to be as economical with information as possible, whatever the reason behind it. In a way, that would be more acceptable than arguing that the gender is no longer being mentioned “as a result of reforms relating to transgender individual policies”. As the Equality Ministry spokewo/man quoted by The Malta Independent noted: “Equality... does not require gender invisibilsation in any way. Indeed, while it is important that laws and policies are formulated in a gender-neutral manner, references to particular individuals need to respect their gender and the particular circumstances around it.”

Whoever issued the directive to the police media relations unit has done a grave disservice to the genuine efforts to ensure equality.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial