Ms Dalli said the Maltese authorities have long been saying that the time was ripe for a stand to be taken on the issue and drive home the message that domestic violence will not be tolerated. However, she said, nothing was being done on the matter.

She said that in order to ensure this matter is dealt with properly, the government has to draw up the Domestic Violence Act.

Ms Dalli said the 1998 Labour government had issued a white paper on domestic violence. She said it was not a political initiative since people from all walks of life participated in its drawing up. She said that in 2000, the then Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi promised that by June that year the bill would be debated in parliament. However, he did nothing about it, she claimed.

Ms Dalli said domestic violence is a serious problem and needs to be tackled as soon as possible. She thanked social workers for their hard work with victims of domestic violence, adding that with a law, social workers would be able to deal with these situations with greater ease.

She mentioned a demonstration held in Valletta on Saturday, and claimed that people were fed up with hearing promises that the Domestic Violence Act was going to be debate in parliament when it was not true. She tabled a petition in parliament calling on the government to prepare the act for a debate as soon as possible.