Last Monday, Parliament unanimously approved the second reading of the bill regarding domestic violence.

Dolores Cristina, our Family and Social Solidarity Minister, had brought to a head and a satisfactory conclusion a long-pending issue which needed to be put into its right perspective and thus help gain better protection for those who suffer abuse within the family walls.

Full marks are due to her for effort and persistence, as well as a clinical approach to the whole complex situation prevailing. Practically all the comments passed during the parliamentary debate were constructive and with the vision of a successful conclusion.

The bill will be further analysed during the committee stage where the all attending and concurring members, from both sides of the House, will definitely make a further positive contribution to set out the legal parameters and guarantees for those who suffer such violence.

Unfortunately, domestic violence, even in this time and age, still carries some taboos along with it. Many do not dare utter a word when subjected to it, as they are made to believe that it is their fault that they suffer this way. The offender coerces the victim into an inferiority complex situation, where the latter would not even dare speak out on the matter.

Others tend to take it in their stride as it may start from something relatively negligible and eventually systematically increase in degrees, conditioning the victim to a life-long terrorised existence. This will then condition not only the victim him/herself but also the other members of the family.

To accentuate the importance of all this (though it was not planned to be so), at the same time Parliament was debating this bill, we were hearing and reading about the horrific abuse to which the Asciak family in Gozo had been subjected for years by the father/husband Anthony Asciak. One question lingers on about the case: how could such a situation continue for so long without coming to a head? All the vibes were there for such a long time.

The general feeling of relief throughout the country was tangible when the jury returned a “not guilty” verdict and agreed that the accused had acted in self-defence. In spite of all this, he declared that he still loved the father who had punished him and the rest of the family for so long without a just cause – a sad episode which reached extreme proportions.

To go back to domestic violence, one must continue to keep a watchful eye on the matter. This law is not an open/closed box situation. There is far more than meets the eye and perhaps it is only thanks to the various NGOs, as well as government entities and agencies, together with church organisations, that matters have not got out of control. These various organisations have given so much and worked silently for such a continuously long period of time that this law was erroneously thought to be of secondary importance.

Now, thanks to Dolores and her ministry, we can all view the matter with a better perspective. We are more aware and more knowledgeable of the true situation. We are now more conscious of the subject and its pertaining difficult situations. Discussing the bill itself made us embark on a search for further material. Many of us surfed the web and looked-up sites which treated domestic violence.

Unfortunately where this type of violence is concerned, we tend to hear only of the one or two episodes where the victims finally have the courage to reach out for help, having decided that, one way or the other, they have nothing more to lose. One’s personal ego and pride would have been battered to such an extent that there does not seem to be any more light at the end of what becomes an endless dark tunnel. I believe that there comes a stage when one both gives up on life and accepts the situation living day by day or else revolts against the situation – whatever the consequences.

As soon as this bill is approved the necessary set-up should be put in place immediately as it is very important that its effectiveness be seen and also felt. I am sure that it will be listed as a priority within the ministry concerned and that no stone will be left unturned. The consciousness created about the whole world of domestic violence should be kept up and not be given the chance to slide once again into the darkness of oblivion.

Tony Abela is parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister