“I live in an area which is close to a field and a car park. There is a fountain near this car park where a group of men, ranging in size, always gather and drink alcohol, they’re loud and always leave trash behind,” the woman recounted.

“As you can imagine, walking through this area to get to my car, go to the gym, go for groceries is highly uncomfortable because the area is dark, next to a dead-end road leading to a field and they’re usually intoxicated.”

More often than not, the men that gather close to her house are drinking, and so they also usually need to urinate somewhere. The woman told the newsroom that they often end up doing this right in front of her apartment.

“Last Sunday, at around 1pm, there were around five men gathered at the fountain doing the same thing.”

“Just as I was walking to my car, one of the guys from this group walked towards my car as soon as he saw me and he proceeded to walk in front of my car and pee right in front of me.”

At this point, the woman recounted how she was absolutely disgusted, offended, and even infuriated, so she decided to tell him something.

“I rolled down my car window and asked him whether this looks like a toilet to him?”

“He didn’t even flinch which infuriated me even more and then I called him a ‘f*cking pig’. Again no reaction, he zipped up his pants and as I was driving away, he just smirked at me.”

“I called the police right after to report it, but the police on the phone seemed extremely disinterested with my call and didn’t sense any urgency either.”

“My boyfriend, who was home at the time, went to check around 30 minutes later and these guys were still there. I called the police again and told them that this area needs to be patrolled because these people are always in that area drinking. Police confirmed that drinking in public spaces is illegal.”

“My boyfriend then went to check 30 minutes later and they were gone. There wasn’t any follow up with the police to let me know what was done or not so of course I was scared.”

“This guy saw my face, my number plate, my car, he saw where I lived. I went to the police station later that day to follow up and they simply told me that the officers who were there earlier are no longer on shift so I should come back tomorrow. So are incidents like this not recorded?”

The following day, she went to speak to the sergeant at the police station to follow up and find out what happened after she had made the report. She wanted to know whether they got a fine for public indecency – peeing in public, as well as drinking in public.

“He said that because I only gave information without being able to provide a proper witness of who the person was, then they couldn’t do anything.”

“He confirmed that no fine was issued, not even for public drinking because they weren’t caught in the act and the police weren’t on the lookout for someone who was drinking but for someone who was publicly indecent.”

“So if one thing is reported and you find them breaking the law doing something else, you just ignore it?” she questioned. 

The woman recounted how one policeman allegedly contradicted himself the whole time they were speaking, by saying he gave them a ticket for drinking at one point, and then saying that since he wasn’t there himself he wouldn’t know if a ticket was given at another.

“Ultimately we assumed that no ticket was given because when we asked for an incident report he said there was none.”

The woman also took it upon herself to highlight the urgent need for police patrolling, especially in such areas.

“I also asked him about patrolling the area and he said they do it every day which I find really funny because I live there, work from home, go to the gym there and get my groceries there but I’ve only seen them once.”

“And if they were really patrolling the area, I assume there wouldn’t be a group of guys here almost daily publicly drinking assuming the police would stop and fine them for doing so.”

“Then he advised me that next time I should have waited for the police to come there so I can identify which one did it, to which I responded: ‘yes, perfect, so then this person can scratch my car or do something as a backlash’.”

“I don’t think they understand how scary such situations can be.”

“I told him that this guy exposing himself in front of a man vs in front of a woman is not the same thing, to which he answered: ‘You feel different because you’re a woman and perhaps didn’t expect for him to do that in front of you but ultimately to the law it would be the same. But if you would have told me, he touched you, that would be a different story’.”

“Do I need to wait for him to touch me to be taken seriously?”

“He then also suggested that I call the police and wait in the corner. All this to say that such situations leave you feeling completely hopeless and unsafe.”

The woman lives in the St Paul’s Bay region, and she expressed how unfortunately it has become an area where her radar is on all the time.

“Even during the day, I have to try to avoid certain roads or areas for more peace of mind.”

“When the sun goes down, I avoid being out in the streets alone because it’s not the first or last time that I’ve been followed, stalked, harassed or felt uncomfortable and unsafe alone.

“I think it’s just a matter of luck that something worse hasn’t happened.”

We need to start giving importance to these experiences, not only when they reach the point of no return.

Have you ever experienced anything similar? Send over your story to [email protected] if you are interested in speaking about it 

If you would like to reach out to authorities please reach out to Victim Support Malta at [email protected].

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