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New Gender Study Finds Malta Has The ‘Most Severe Level Of Violence’ Against Women

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Maltese people might like to say they are the best in everything, but a recent report by the European Institute for Gender Equality has put Malta at the top of a list no-one would be proud to top.

Malta has been deemed the country with the most severe level of violence against women in the EU. Conversely, Malta also has the highest number of women who speak out about the violence they are enduring.

These statistics are part of the EIGE’s Gender Equality Index, which ranks countries based on various criteria relating to gender equality, including violence against women.

In the latest index, the lower a score the country achieved, the better. With the scores ranging from 22 for Poland (the best score) and 44 for Bulgaria, Malta achieved a very respectable 24, doing better than most EU countries – the EU average was 27.5.

Malta achieved a score of 24, better than the EU average of 27.5.

EIGE Gender Violence Index

Even considering Malta as ranking as the most severe country, Malta had one of the best scores, due to the scores Malta achieved in other criteria. 

Malta scored below average for the level of reporting by victims in Malta, as well as the prevalence of violence. Malta had the lowest amount of women who experienced violence and did not tell anyone in the 12 previous months, at eight percent. 

In comparison, 47 percent of European have experienced violence and never told anyone.

Another interesting find was that in both Malta and Slovenia, people who attempted to murder their partners were all intimate partners, whereas in other countries the attempted murderers also included relatives. 

The report also pointed out that Malta is falling short of Article 23 of the Istanbul Convention, which states that each country must provide a women’s shelter per 10,000 inhabitants.

“Victims in court are often asked if they would like to forgive the offender”

Krista Tabone, VSM Director

Speaking to Lovin Malta, Krista Tabone, director of Victim Support Malta, that that the situation is “reflected in local statistics, where we’re seeing that this year we had more reports on severely violent assaults than we had last year:, at 5:1,” she said. 

“The EIGE report is also speaking about repeat victimisation, which is a very real issue which we have in Malta. We often have victims of domestic violence and interpersonal violence who report to the police several times – and since the penalties are nowhere near harsh enough, the abuse escalates into more regular and severe forms of violence,” she said.

She also pointed out another major issue in the Maltese system: “victims in court are often asked if they would like to forgive the offender, and that ex-officio is not always implemented by the police – which puts more responsibility on the victim.”

While other countries are doing much worse than Malta when it comes to gender violence, the country still has a lot of progress to do. 

What do you think of the latest gender violence report’s indications about Malta? Let us know in the comments below!

READ NEXT: Malta Is About To Radically Improve Its Rape Laws

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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