The European Observatory on Femicide (EOF) was launched on Friday at the University of Malta Valletta Campus.
The EOF is hosted within the University of Malta’s Department of Gender Studies with Dr Marceline Naudi as the Scientific Coordinator and Barbara Stelmaszek as the Research Officer working for the Observatory.
The EOF began operating in January 2018 and aims to raise awareness of gender-related killings of women, or femicide through collation of data. The EOF will monitor and supply data, advance research, promote comparability across the states, gain understanding of local contexts, and cooperate with relative stakeholders. It is the first such observatory in Europe and plans to utilise the generated data to engage policy makers in Europe and on country levels to work together in order to prevent femicide.
The EOF was born out of the 2014-2017 European Union funded COST Action on Femicide across Europe (IS-1206) whichDr Marceline Naudi was actively involved in. The COST Action resulted in improved knowledge about the definition of femicide, data collection and reporting of femicide, and the topics of culture and prevention as related to femicide. During the final conference of the Action, which took place at the University of Malta in March 2017, it was agreed to continue the work in the form of establishing the EOF, if possible within the University of Malta.
The launch event was an important gathering of local and European experts working in the field of preventing and combatting violence against women. The event provided an opportunity to celebrate the establishment of the EOF, to make the public aware of the new initiative, and to gather support for future work.
President Marie-Louise ColeiroPreca, the President of Malta, gave the opening speech.
The President said femicide is the leading cause of female homicides worldwide. “For this reason, the observatory will create a much-needed opportunity to effectively organise and collect relevant information, from across the European Union, for the benefit of all women in our countries. It will also send a strong message about our shared commitment to universal human rights. The establishment of this observatory is directly responding to the needless fragmentation, within our nations, when it comes to the collection of essential data about violence against women, and femicide in particular.”
“We cannot allow this serious crime against women to continue within our countries. We must be bold. We must call femicide by its name, and explore the root causes of this scourge within our societies. We must monitor gender-based violence through an ongoing process of evaluation, to be able to effectively inform and influence policies and actions, in our respective countries. We must take steps to ensure that women and girls are protected, with the full force of our laws.”
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said such measures must form part of a larger transformation, within our societies. “We need to prioritise the visibility of women, in all their situations, and we must respond to the real challenges that they face. Above all, it is critical to nurture a transformation in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours that condone or perpetuate violence against women.”
“No woman should live in fear for her life, simply because she is a woman.”
After presenting the work of the Observatory, Dr Naudi and Barbara Stelmaszek gave the floor to the evening’s panelists: Johanna Nelles from the Council of Europe, BlandineMollard from the European Institute for Gender Equality, and Karen Ingala Smith of the UK Femicide Census.
The panelists discussed their work in the area of femicide prevention and answered questions from the audience.
A representative of European Affairs and Equality Minister Helena Dalli read her closing speech, since she was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances. The event was followed by a small networking reception.