By the middle of the 20th century as in so many other countries of the enlightened West, gender equality was still a far cry.  Although, following the pressure put on the authorities by the Women of Malta Association that had been set up in 1944, they had been given the right to vote their salaries were officially pegged down to three-fourths of those of their male counterparts, and with minimal chances of promotion.  Equal educational opportunities for males and females remained theoretical since comparatively few girls continued their studies beyond primary school, and even fewer beyond secondary. Her place was considered to be in the home looking after husband and children or aging parents as the case might be.  A woman could find a job, but the idea of a career for her was practically inconceivable. The Civil Code too strongly discriminated against the woman relegating the married woman to more or less the status of a minor.  Upon marriage not only was she obliged to take the surname of her husband who had the sole right to decide upon the matrimonial home, but all major decisions, include those over property, even her own paraphernal property, and her children were taken by the husband.  Women were also barred by law from acting as public officers, including serving as jurors, notaries public, legal tutors and witnessing legal contracts.

On the surface it appeared that most women accepted this state of affairs, but not all.  Early in 1964, on the eve of Malta’s Independence from Great Britain, a visit by the President of the International Council of Women of Great Britain, fired a core group of six women with the idea of establishing a National Council of Women in Malta. Miss Deane had come to Malta to promote the aims and objects of the International Council of Women which had been founded in 1888. This was an international non-governmental organisation comprising National Councils of Women of every continent whose aim is to help make women aware, not only of their rights but also of their civic social and political responsibilities to society as a whole. On arrival Ms Deane had been informed that there were no women leaders in Malta and she was leaving the following day.  However she was invited by Miss Mary Griffin to meet six of her own friends who were leaders of women’s associations. This meeting fired the women present who saw the opportunity of being “in a better position to work in the service of our country; not only to witness its progress and development from the living rooms of our homes but to help forge it and give it shape, possibly also from the planning table in decision-taking board rooms.”  They decided to set up a National Council of Women of Malta and formed themselves into a steering committee and made a public invitation to all interested women to go to a preliminary meeting that took place at the Governor General’s Palace in Valletta.  Lady Dorman, wife of the Governor General, was invited to chair the meeting but although she accepted to do so and promised her support she immediately made it clear that this was to be a Society for the “Women of Malta”.

During this meeting that was held on the 13th February 1964 and which was attended by about eighty women from all walks of life, a provisional committee was chosen in order to draw up a statute for possible adoption at a General Meeting of enrolled members which had to be called within six weeks.  The members of this team were Josephine Amato Gauci, Maria Testaferrata Bonici, Beatrice Testaferrata Moroni Viani, Mary Griffin, Mary Davison and Jane Spiteri.

During the first General Meeting held in April 1964the statute was approved and an executive committee was elected its members being Josephine Amato Gauci (President), Josephine DeBono and may Anastasi Pace (Vice-Presidents, Maria Testaferrat Bonici (Treasurer), Bice Testaferrata Moroni Viani, May Ellis, Carmen Carbonaro, Mary Griffin, Carmela Tonna, Mona Nelson, Vera Harding, Kate Caruana Curran, Lola Sammut (members). Jane Spiteri, who continued to serve on the executive committee in various roles right up to 2004, was appointed Honorary General Secretary. 

Following the attainment of independence the Council became affiliated to the International Council of Women and in 1972 became a member of the European Centre of the International Council of Women which has consultative status with the Council of Europe. Since that time the Council has participated actively in international affairs. Currently a number of past presidents as well as Mary Gaerty, the present President are serving on a number of bodies: Grace Attard is currently on the European Economic and Social Committee and editor of the International Council of Women newsletter, Mary Gaerty and Doreen Micallef are on the ARETUSA Network, Doreen Micallef is recording secretary of the International Council of Women while the present hon. general secretary  Doris Bingley is President of the European Council of the International Council of Women and member of the Board of the International Council of Women, is member of the Commonwealth Women’s Network, past member of the board and executive of the Commonwealth Foundation, and member of the Anna Lindh Foundation. The Council is also an associate member of the European Women’s Lobby.

The objectives of the Council were laid down in the statute as being those of promoting the establishment of human rights for the people of Malta in their civic, educational, moral and religious welfare; promoting such conditions of life as assure for all persons opportunities for full and free development; securing the removal of all disabilities of women, legal, economic or social; promoting the effective participation of women in the life of the nation; promoting sympathy of thought and co-operation among women; acting as a co-ordinating body for societies which work for any of its objectives. Keeping these objectives in mind the first Executive Committee started working and immediately made an impact by acting as a pressure group, lobbying members of Parliament, administrators and decision makers and by making full use of the media. It especially kept an on-going dialogue with Ministers and published its views on the media.  For many years it also had a monthly column in Malta’s leading newspaper, “The Sunday Times of Malta”.  Above all it placed women’s issues on the national agenda and as a result over the years several radical improvements were made in the laws of the country. These culminated in the ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination on the grounds of sex in March 1991 with the subsequent amendment of the Constitution in July of the same year, which provided legal remedy against sexual discrimination, and the enactment of the new family law Shab fiz-zwieg in July 1993, which came into force on the first of December of the same year. This was as historic occasion in the political history of Malta, for, it was the first law that got the approval of both sides in Parliament, Government and Opposition.

The road had been long and arduous but the going steady.  The first break-through was made in 1967  when the Government accepted the principle of equal pay for equal work in government employment, a principle that was extended in 1974 to the private sector. In 1972 women were allowed to do jury service on a voluntary basis and were given the right to became notaries public, legal tutors or witness legal contracts. In 1980 women employed by Government were no longer required to resign their employment on marriage. In the 1980s the role of women as mothers was recognised when full-time employees became entitled to 13 weeks paid maternity leave and were protected from dismissal during the period of maternity leave. In 1987 female government employees were given up to one year unpaid leave to look after  their young children, non-working pregnant women received financial benefit for 13 weeks from the State and the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and fundamental Freedoms were incorporated in Maltese law. 1989 saw the setting up of the Secretariat for the Equal Status of Women and the Commission for the Advancement of Women on which the Council is represented by one member. Gradually the Council had developed from being a pressure group to being an active participant in the setting of national policies.

The Council is a voluntary organisation, strictly non-partisan and independent. Membership is on an individual basis open to women who want to help put its aims and objects into effect.  It is not a feminist organisation and the statute provides for mixed societies to become affiliated members provided their representative is a woman. To date the Council acts as an umbrella organisation for twenty-five such bodies that can be said to cover the whole spectrum of Maltese society. The Statute also makes provision for a number of committees that look after specialised fields of activity.  These include education, health, environment, law, consumer rights, finance social issues, culture and youth while a special sub-committee looks after organising a biennial music competition for young performers named after Bice Mizzi Vassallo, one of the earliest life-members of the Council, wife of one of Malta’s Prime Ministers and herself an outstanding pianist and music teacher. An important function of these committees is to present resolutions at the Annual General Meeting about matters of national policy which after approval by the General Meeting are forwarded to the Authorities for consideration. The various committees also organise various activities of an informative and educational nature in their respective fields and provide fora for the discussion of matters of national importance.

The Council has its own quarterly publication, Il-Mara, which is circulated among its members keeping them informed not only of Council activities but also of important topics that are being discussed locally and internationally and for a number of years it had a monthly column in Malta’s leading Sunday newspaper. It voices its views among the general public through seminars and the media and with the administration by means of position papers on all white papers and government policies.  In 1996 it was among the first bodies to start discussing the impact of EU membership for Malta and the growing field of bio-ethics. Early in the 1990s the Council started to create awareness among government bodies of domestic violence. Its “Vote for Women” campaigns that are held prior to every election started bearing fruit during the last general election that saw the biggest number of women yet elected to Parliament.  Believing strongly in the importance of literacy and education it has over the past few years embarked on a constantly-growing programme of lessons in basic subjects like Maltese, English Mathematics and IT, as well as in basic skills like  parenting, starting a business and administering finance all of which have brought together new bands of Maltese women. Believing strongly that today’s children are tomorrow’s decision makers the Council has also focused a number of activities on youngsters, organising competitions for children on various topics.

Today the Council is certainly an organisation to be reckoned with, recognised both locally and internationally as actively participating in and influencing policy. Among its officials, its Presidents and its General Secretaries it lists some of the most influential persons on the Island.  Foremost among them are Margaret Mortimer who ended her career in the Education Department as the first Director of Education, Dolores Christina who served for many years as a Member of Parliament and a Minister, Lorraine Schembri Orland, who is now serving on the Bench of the Judiciary, and Grace Attard who is very active in the International sphere.  Its presidents are, however, actively supported by a whole team of officials who keep up-dating the ethos of the Council to reflect the rapid changes that are taking place in Maltese society.