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Shift News Editor Boycotts Women’s Rights March Over Daphne Silence

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Caroline Muscat (left) has harshly criticised the Women’s Rights Foundation (right) 

Shift News editor Caroline Muscat has refused to attend this afternoon’s women’s rights march in Valletta in protest at how Maltese women’s rights organisations had failed to react strongly to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

“The message is the elimination of violence against women, and yet where was this movement in almost five months since Daphne’s Caruana Galizia’s assassination?” Muscat wrote. “No amount of purple feathers and boas are going to make up for that silence. How can they justify such calls when they have ignored the assassination of one of their own? Their selective importance to issues shows this movement can never be one that breaks beyond the political confines of national discourse. It is the women’s movement – if a genuine one existed – that should be driving the campaign for justice for a female journalist killed. Yet, they hold a march with a statement against gender violence without a single mention of her assassination.”

“Was she not a woman? What on earth could be holding these women back from saying her assassination was wrong, unless it was because they were embracing the government’s narrative that she was a partisan ‘hate blogger’? It is the only explanation for their failure to take a stand on the assassination of one of their own. They are the first to point out the false justifications for gender violence and then they endorse that behaviour for Caruana Galizia through their silence.

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Muscat went on to accuse Women’s Rights Foundation chairperson Lara Dimitrijevic of political partisanship, recounting how she had turned down Muscat’s request for a discussion on women’s rights back when she was entrusted with leading the PN’s election campaign last year. 

“[Dimitrijevic’s] reply to me that morning was that a discussion could not be held ‘considering [my] new position’ within the PN,” Muscat said. “I immediately countered that having someone who understood the importance of the issue within a political party should be seen as an advantage. Any campaigning organisation worth its salt knows its job is to work with all contenders to get their agenda on the map.”

What do you make of Caroline Muscat’s stance? 

READ NEXT: We Found Out What Maltese Women Want By Speaking To Maltese Women

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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