The shocking discovery of human remains in the search for missing Sarah Everard in England has led to women in Malta opening up about their own shocking experiences.

Everard, 33, went missing last week on her way home from a friend’s house in Clapham, London. A police officer has since been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering her after Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, announcing that police had discovered human remains in Kent today.

Maltese people residing in London took part in an online campaign to help locate Everard, including sharing CCTV footage of her last known location in an attempt to locate the 33-year-old. 

However, the tragic news revealed today has also cast a painful light on the reality of being a woman in Malta.

“The news of Sarah Everard who trusted a police officer while walking home at 9pm one evening in London is hitting home,” Alessandra Baldacchino said on Facebook, before opening up about some things she herself had experienced growing up in Malta.

“Every girl or woman reading the news today is thinking ‘this could have been me’ and can recount a number of times they have felt unsafe doing the most mundane thing, like walking home,” she said.

Baldacchino recounts a number of incidents where she was subject to harassment for being a woman, starting as a young teenage girl and counting to this very day, even up to a few months ago.

In addition to being cat-called, intimated and subject to indecent exposure, Baldacchino recounts several distributing incidents she was physically harassed.

“Age 18: I’m on the phone, walking home at sunset. A man walks past and quickly cups his hands on my vulva and keeps walking,” she said.

“This list doesn’t even capture all the catcalling and times I was scared enough to put a key in between my knuckles. I’ve had men get pissed off because I didn’t yell ‘thanks hun’ back after they catcalled me as I was walking by.”

Unfortunately, sexual abuse is an abhorrently widespread issue in Malta, but few reports ever get to the desks of police.

The tragic story of Everard, and the anecdotal experiences of Baldacchino, are just a small specimen representing what many women have to deal with in everyday life.

“This post isn’t just about me. It’s about all women who I know share similar experiences. Coming from a family of mostly girls, I feel even more strongly about this and wish to protect them as best I can, even though it feels impossible,” Baldacchino continued.

Lovin Malta has launched a series where it takes a deep dive into the issue, starting by sharing the hundreds of real-life horror stories of sexual assault that happen in this country. 

“Raising awareness, not standing for any kind of abuse, reporting them and educating boys/men on how to respect women is the best I think we could do,” Baldacchino ended.

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