The Malta Women's Lobby has called for urgent action to strengthen Malta's response to violence against women following the killing of Miriam Azzopardi, the second case to be prosecuted as femicide in the country in approximately six weeks.
A man was charged last Friday with Azzopardi's murder and with femicide. Her killing follows that of Charlotte Zammit in Żabbar in August, which was also prosecuted as femicide.
The latest killing comes just days after the Council of Europe's expert monitoring body on violence against women, GREVIO, published its latest evaluation of Malta on 17 September.
While the evaluation recognised progress in Malta's efforts to address violence against women, the Malta Women's Lobby said GREVIO had also identified gaps in areas including victim protection, perpetrator accountability, specialist services, professional training, risk assessment and data collection.
The organisation said the latest case should prompt scrutiny of whether existing systems are effectively protecting women at risk.
Among its demands, the lobby is calling for stronger risk assessments and safeguards when bail is considered in cases involving violence against women. It said concerns about the repeated granting of bail in such cases had previously been raised publicly by both the Malta Women's Lobby and the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality.
The organisation is also seeking sustained funding for women's shelters and specialist services, including emergency accommodation, counselling, legal and psychological support, assistance for children and pathways to long-term housing.
It called for mandatory and recurring training for judges, police officers, prosecutors, court experts and other professionals dealing with gender-based violence, with the training to be trauma-informed and gender-sensitive.
The Malta Women's Lobby also urged greater emphasis in schools on consent, healthy relationships and safe dating, as well as education about coercive control, sexual harassment, digital abuse and the recognition of abusive behaviour.
Another key proposal is the establishment of a permanent mechanism to review femicides and attempted femicides. Such reviews, the lobby said, should identify warning signs, shortcomings in protection and lessons that could help prevent future deaths.
"The recommendations exist. The gaps have been identified," the organisation said, arguing that the effectiveness of Malta's response should ultimately be measured not only by how institutions respond after a woman is killed, but by whether future killings can be prevented.