The Labour Party has condemned the “insulting” politicisation of domestic violence by the Nationalist Party (PN) through a press release it issued earlier today.
After the PN stated that systems designed to protect women across the Maltese islands are “repeatedly failing,” the Labour Party (PL) expressed its regret that the Opposition would issue such a partisan statement “that not only politicizes such a sensitive subject, but may lead to people refraining from seeking assistance because they are being told that doing so is futile.”
“The Nationalist Party’s statement is an insult to the many workers and professionals who in the sector,” the Labour Party said.
The PL added that the PN is not proposing anything new by criticising everything and crying that everything is wrong.
“The Labour Party is fully committed to continuing to do everything necessary to continue to combat domestic violence and to carry out reforms to provide the greatest possible protection to victims,” the party issued.
The governing party acknowledged that “there is always more to be done,” before going over some of the reforms carried out in this subject area.
It described how the Malta Police Force today employs over 60 police officers to work in a dedicated unit that specialises in helping victims of domestic violence – an improvement from the zero specialised officers in the past. It also mentioned the setting up of the MARAM mechanism to further assist victims, educational campaigns, research programmes, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, the Victim Support Agency, amongst others.
The PL also noted that within the Law Courts, there are now three judges in place to handle these natured cases, up from just one. Additionally, there are nearly 60 people in prison today who have been accused or sentenced in relation to domestic violence cases.
Commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the PL paid its respects towards all victims of domestic violence and called for everyone presently going through these struggles to come forward and seek help.
The party concluded its statement by declaring that solutions to tackling domestic violence rates do not come through partisanship, but by all of society coming together.