‘Who Is Next?’: Domestic Abuse Survivors Call On Maltese State To Take Its Responsibility To Women Seriously
A leading Maltese women support service aimed at helping victims and survivors of domestic abuse has issued an emotional statement following the violent murder of Chantelle Chetcuti by her former partner and father of her children.
“Another woman is murdered by her ex-partner. Another woman is snatched violently for selfish reasons from her family. Yet another femicide stains the history of our country. For us survivors who have escaped our own abusers, who watch on in grief and anger as one of our sisters is failed by the state again, we ask: who is next?” SOAR asked today.
SOAR is a support service offered by NGO St Jeanne Antide Foundation. It is made up of survivors of domestic abuse, and they’ve joined up with other leading rights organisation to organise a protest against domestic violence in Valletta tonight following Chetcuti’s shocking murder.
“We feel angered that the state is not taking its responsibility seriously enough to ensure our protection and to hold perpetrators accountable, which leads victims and survivors to lose trust in the system,” they continued. “The current situation is dire.”
They spoke about the problem victims face when they realise they are in an abusive relationship, and how leaving or reporting the problem is not as easy as people say it is.
“Leaving a perpetrator of domestic violence is not enough to stop the violence. We survivors know this, but we feel that the state is not understanding the risk that leaving or reporting a perpetrator puts us in,” SOAR said.
Chantelle Chetcuti was attempting to end her over-decade long relationship with Justin Borg when he killed her.
SOAR gave five recommendations to the government to better help and support victims.
1. Treat domestic violence and Gender-based violence as an urgent matter of the state and not as a private matter.
2. Observe its obligation as clearly defined in the Istanbul Convention, to ensure that all women and girls are protected from violence.
3. Seriously re-evaluate recent changes to the law that have created additional barriers to protection.
4. Evaluate procedures and sentences meted out in Criminal Court, especially where there are clear indicators of incompetence and a lack of understanding of domestic violence, coercive control and lethal risk factors.
5. Work closer with NGOs which have the expertise and experience at the grassroots level.
SOAR will be joining a number of other groups in a protest against domestic violence in Valletta this evening at 7 pm.
You can find their full statement below:
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