She also warned that Micallef Stafrace’s comments were disrespetful towards sex workers, pointing out that “these people have their stories as well” and urging others not to judge them.

Chetcuti said she decided to speak out after university lecturer Simon Mercieca reported the incident as a court admonishment against her for “kissing another man”, without pointing out that the kiss was actually a greeting kiss on the cheek and the man – lawyer Melhino Mercieca – was actually her cousin.

“I was shocked when I read the blog… I never would have thought I’d be subjected to all of this,” she said.

“I was in two minds as to whether I should even come to Parliament because I felt shy about what was written about me. I’m a mother of two, my son read on Facebook that his mother was kissing in a courtroom and I felt terrible because it was not what happened”.

She said that while the allegation was blatantly ridiculous (“Who would ever think that a 45-year-old lawyer, MP and mother-of-two would be so stupid as to go to a court hall in front of everyone and kiss a man?”) it hurt her nonetheless.

“Everyone asked me why I took it so seriously, but yes it hurt me because I’ve been trying to build this reputation for myself of being a serious woman who wants to build arguments… for those few minutes I felt this was all threatened that is what hurt the most.”

“However, loads of people called me up to express solidarity with me and I decided to go to Parliament. Thank God I did, because so many people were sweet and asked if they could give me a kiss, and MPs from both sides of the House told me to be courageous and that they’ll stick by me. I feel good because maybe we can do something about this. I don’t need to be shy that I’m a woman.”

“If there’s a positive from this story, I hope it’s that we must respect everyone. Before I was a lawyer, I was a teacher and I always taught my students that we should be respectful to authorities but they must be respectful towards us as well.”

The new MP also used the occasion to encourage people not to hold back from expressing their emotions.

@lovinmaltaofficial What do you make of Janice Chetcuti's claim about Yana Micallef Stafrace? 👀 #fyp #fypmalta #malta #parliament #lawyer #magistrate #reactions #LovinMalta ♬ original sound – Lovin Malta

“I’m not the kind of person who usually cries in front of people but I did that today and I’m not saying this for people to feel sympathy towards me but for people to know that when we feel bad, it’s not an ugly thing to bring out your emotions,” she said.

“Today I did it for the first time ever and honestly I felt good afterwards… yes, I was a victim and I had the courage to speak. We are often victims of the situation and maybe we decide to put it to the side because we feel timid or shy. No, if we feel that someone did something to us, we should speak about it.”

A former Marsaxlokk councillor, Chetcuti was elected to Parliament last March and made PN spokesperson for the environment, open spaces and animal rights.

She has been widely tipped to contest the PN deputy leadership position, and she told Lovin Malta earlier this week that she isn’t ruling out throwing her name in the hat. 

Would you like to see Janice Chetcuti become PN deputy leader?