Nicolette Ghirxi, the last known woman to be murdered in Malta, is listed amongst 32 other women who have lost their lives on the island through an act of femicide within the last two decades. 

It’s a given that Nicolette won’t be the last victim of femicide in our country because Maltese law does not permit women full body autonomy and does little to respect or protect women before, during, or after they unwillingly become entangled in a case of femicide. 

The only hope in the tragedy, which flickers like a faint beacon at the end of a long dock, are Maltese activists and artists. The minority who are informing women, protesting, and producing art intended to educate the population, and end femicide and the oppression of women in Malta. 

An ingrained misogyny

Almost every woman within her lifetime has had at least one unpleasant experience at the hands of a man for just living her life. Women are judged by everything they do, and even on what they don’t do, especially when what they don’t do is conform to the gender role stereotype of the ‘dutiful and demure partner’.  

This ingrained misogyny has been hovering like an unwelcome cloud over Maltese society for too long. Everyone should be aware of its existence and we all should be educating the younger generations, yet in Malta for some reason this simple realisation is lost on many. 

It’s no surprise, really, when lawmakers in Malta are setting a bad example by following dated rules set by men such as the current abortion laws, which are highly restrictive. Plus, the Church and Government are administered by men in decision-making roles, with men outnumbering women in the same positions.

As a result, women living in Malta are being let down by the system that is predominantly run and supported by men, for men.

European traditions carry on their gender stereotypes through generations. With this mindset it’s seen as manly to act out when a woman deliberately colours outside the lines.

Commissioner on gender-based violence and domestic violence, Audrey Friggieri, said it best when she stated, “We need to change our ways of thinking and being, stop acting on autopilot, repeating patterns of behaviour that we have inherited from tradition and reflect on our behavior and the meaning of human rights.”

Not good enough

For freethinkers it’s extremely frustrating to constantly hear and tell the same story over and over. To witness progressive Maltese voices stand in solidarity, while the laws and government do very little to get to the root cause of the problem, is simply not good enough.

How many more protests do Maltese activists need to hold to educate the masses that gender-based violence, recently recognised in Maltese courts as femicide, is a cultural disease?  

Within the smallest country in the European Union the oppression of women is harder felt. In Malta a woman having her own opinion or following her own life path is an instant sign she is ‘difficult’. In such close-knit communities, a woman having opinions which stray from the norm means her job opportunities, family and social relationships, and welfare could all suffer. Or worse, her life could be threatened or even ended.  

A timely documentary

Through an informative discussion with Maltese women, these ideas and experiences are expressed within the recent film ‘No Woman is an Island’, produced and distributed by Nexus Production Group. Insight is given about what it’s like being a  woman in Malta, how each woman found their voice despite the backlash, and their inspiration on and off the island. 

In the timely documentary, Marceline Naudi, academic at the University of Malta with the Department of Gender and Sexuality, laments what all activists in Malta are feeling: “Jien għajjejt u xbajt*. I am tired and fed up of saying the same thing. For the past 20 years, 30 years, I have been saying the same thing, and still, things have not changed enough. Things have changed, but things have not changed enough.”

However we activists persist, we push on towards our quest for equality because we are not swayed by the media, the church or traditional ideals. We make up our own minds and come to the conclusion and understanding that change needs to be made for all to prosper. 

What’s it going to take –  another protest, another film, another discussion, another femicide? 

Every person identifying as a woman and girl in Malta should be able to exist without feeling fear or judgment. The basic human right of bodily autonomy shouldn’t be a goal she fights for daily. 

If this is the message activists and artists in Malta must keep chanting, writing about, and making films about, then so be it. We will continue to do so until our voices are heard by the law makers, the media, the Church, and the general public.

The truth is gender role stereotypes and their expectations are the root cause of femicide in Malta and they must be eliminated across every institution and medium if Malta is to reach a state of equality which benefits everyone. 

* The Maltese phrase “għajjejt u xbajt” means “I’m tired and fed up”.

Sarah Jayne Portelli is Director & Producer, Nexus Production Group