‘It Begins With Naming The Act’: Malta Launches Femicide Awareness Campaign Alongside European Countries
Alongside four European countries, Malta has launched an awareness-raising campaign targeting the prevention of femicide.
The campaign – the FEM-United project – is an EU-funded project that has recruited the collaboration of organisations across five countries alongside Malta’s Woman’s Rights Foundation and the Faculty for Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta.
The country is no stranger to femicide, especially after the nation was faced with the murders of Paulina Dembska and Rita Ellul, both within a three-month span this year.
Since 2016 alone, 11 women were murdered, while globally, as many as 137 women were killed simply for being women.
Paulina Dembska (left) and Rita Ellul (Right) were victims of femicide in Malta earlier this year
It begins with naming the act
In a conference held on Tuesday, the FEM-United project shed light on what is needed to address the issue with immediate effect. And it all begins with naming the act, as femicide.
The basis of this came after findings of a study launched by the same authorities, which concluded that:
“All countries have in common that gender inequality and more or less patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes still generally exist in societies.”
And it continues by raising awareness
The campaign aims to raise awareness among several key players; from front-line professionals and policymakers to members of the general public through the release of five videos.
The content in each video will address issues that came with the findings of the FEM-United study by:
- “Naming the killings of women and girls due to their gender as femicide”
- “Linking the normalisation of violence against women in our societies with femicide”
- “Addressing the warning signs and risk factors associated with femicide”
- “Debunking myths and misconceptions on femicide that obscure the foundations of violence against women and femicide”
- “Collectively demanding that governments take action to prevent femicide”
Recent figures by the National Statistics Office have shown that almost 3,000 people used government services to help victims of domestic violence in Malta.
Women made up the overwhelming number of people using such services. Around 2,300 women reached out to the Domestic Violence Unit within Aġenzija Appoġġ and the Police, making up 79% of the total cases.
Without question, raising awareness within our borders but also abroad, may be the necessary step to promoting a safer place for women.
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