The former chairperson of the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations said today she hopes female Parliamentarians are not silenced by verbal abuse.

Lorraine Spiteri, who has been working in favour for women's rights for 40 years, was referring to an ongoing libel case, filed by MP (now Parliamentary Secretary) Rosianne Cutajar, against Occupy Justice activist Rachel Williams and Godfrey Leone Ganado, an accountant and occasional contributor to the press.

Cutajar had filed for libel last year after Leone Ganada wrote on a post authored by Williams on Facebook: “Hamalli, prostitutes and call girls have a right to be represented in Parliament.” Williams, a court was told, did not try and stop the commenter but went along with his remarks.

In a Facebook post, Spiteri wrote: “If we are encouraging women to enter the political sphere, we must urgently acknowledge this global, toxic attempt to stop women from raising their voices and keeping them away from gaining any form of political power. Calling a woman a prostitute or a whore or any other sexually-laden name reflects wider systems of power that continue to suggest that women should be dominated by men and to demean and harm the integrity of women. Bullies and harrassers often use such intimidating tools to make their victims feel insignificant and powerless. Let’s hope that our female parliamentarians won’t be silenced by such abuse which would further prevent us from achieving true gender equality.”