An interview conducted by the Chamber of Commerce’s magazine amongst six Maltese businessmen about the prospects of the economy in 2018 may seem innocuous enough at first glance – just six people speaking about their respective industries. 

Yet women have flagged a problem in the interview – namely that the six interviewees picked by the Chamber of Commerce all happened to be men. Indeed, several women have taken to the Chamber’s Facebook page as well as to the closed Facebook group Women for Women to question the choice of interviewees. 

“What a shame that an institution like the Chamber of Commerce does not lead by example and does not even think of portraying at least one woman in business!” womens’ rights activist Francesca Fenech Conti commented. “This is 2017 not 1917!”

Other notable dissidents include university social policy lecturer Andrea Dibben, PN international secretary Roselyn Borg, newspaper columnist Josanne Cassar, and Lorna Farrugia from the Association For Equality – a new lobby group pushing for gender equality. 

Farrugia argued that the lack of businesswoman representation in the article could stem from the shortage of women on the Chamber of Commerce’s own council – only two of its 28 council members are women.

“So many women out there working hard and making a positive impact,” another woman commented. “Couldn’t you have interviewed some of them too? Malta Chamber, you should be at the forefront of changing culture and mindsets within the business world and here you are doing just the opposite!”

It is worth noting that the Chamber’s interview might actually be very indicative of Maltese business. Indeed, a recent Eurostat shows that only 7% of Maltese company board directors are women – the lowest rate in Europe. 

When contacted by Lovin Malta, the Chamber pointed out that it had written an article about women in business some months ago.

Do you think misogyny is a problem in Maltese society? 

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Tim Diacono

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]