Domestic Violence and the Feminization of Homelessness in Malta: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

The majority of the homeless population in Malta are women and children. The main reason, I suggest, is the low status of women and the lack of power in the family bargaining process, which makes them vulnerable to abuse and violence by their intimate partners. After presenting evidence on Maltese women's low status, this article draws connections between the low position of women and the high prevalence of domestic violence and its resulted outcome: the feminization of homelessness. In addition to the published literature, this paper draws on three data sources: (1) the 2010 European Commission-sponsored survey, in which 26,800 citizens of EU-27 member states were interviewed regarding domestic violence (Eurobarometer 73.2, ‘Domestic Violence against Women’, 2010); (2) in-depth, interviews conducted with 1200 women from Malta and Gozo in February and March 2010 (Fsadni, The Prevalence of Domestic Violence against Women in Malta and its Impact on their Employment Prospects 2010); and (3) the results of in-depth interviews conducted by the author in June 2011, in Dar Merhba Bik, the main shelter for survivors of domestic violence. Although this study was able to find a significant association between Maltese women's disempowerment, domestic violence and resulted homelessness, additional work is required to see if this association is causal.

Keywords::

• women
• power
• prevalence
• Mediterranean
• Catholic

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the invaluable help provided to me by Lara Bezzina, the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) for the interview at the Dar Mer?ba Bik shelter for the survivors of domestic violence. I also thank Helena Dalli, Member of the Parliament, Labour spokesperson for public services and equality and University of Malta lecturer, as well as Renee Laiviera, Chair of the Malta Confederation of Women's Organizations (MCWO). They both read an earlier version of the article and made helpful comments and suggestions. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions on this article.

Notes

¹ There is no commonly agreed definition of homelessness. However, as suggested by Cordray and Pion (1991) it should not become an obstacle for research or policy development. They argue that, as long as the researcher identifies who on the continuum (the spectrum of homelessness) has or has not been included, users will be able to understand the numbers and appreciate the problem. They propose, when counting the homeless, researchers should identify the specific subgroup (e.g. shelter residents, persons on the streets, those in inadequate housing and residents of institutions) that the count represents. This methodology may eliminate the necessity of developing an all-encompassing, internationally valid definition of homelessness (Cordray and Pion 1991, 593). In this article I will follow their suggestion.

² The author spent almost seven years in Malta, teaching part-time at the department of public policy. During that time he was in contact with the two largest homeless shelters, YMCA and Dar Suret il-Bniedem, and the oldest shelter for the survivors of domestic violence, Dar Merhba Bik in Malta. (He interviewed 15 women in Dar Teresa Spinelli shelter in Valletta in 2006 and 10 women in Dar Merhba Bik in 2011). He was also consultant (volunteer) to the YMCA (family) shelter in Valletta.

³ More than 11% have thought of ending their lives, at one point or another, and 12% of them actually made an attempt to take their lives (Fsadni 2010).

⁴ Age Pension is a means-tested benefit payable to citizens of Malta over the age of 60 years who are not entitled to an employment Pension. In Malta, Survivors' Pension is payable to a widow whose husband was entitled to a Two-Thirds Pension or whose husband would have been entitled to a pension had he reached retiring age at the time of his death.

⁵ The public perception of the traditional strong knit Maltese family values often goes against the reality of broken families; children in care facilities; domestic violence and homeless in shelters; and elderly that are thrown out by their families and warehoused in hospitals. It seems the Maltese family, traditionally the first line of defence, has been continually changing while declaring its inability to hold the responsibilities entrusted to her by society; crying for help from the church and the state. In this staunchly Catholic society, the number of births outside marriage has increased steadily from 0.7% in 1960 to 20.2% in 2005, of which 322 were born to unknown fathers (NSO 2010). This resistance to inevitable change can be seen in the legalization of divorce, which the Church openly spent thousands of Euros trying to defeat; in spite of the ‘no’ vote by Prime Minister Dr Gonzi, the referendum passed and became the law. (On divorce and secularization trend, see Pace 2012.)

⁶ The March national elections brought the Labour Party to power which tends to have more gender equality perspective than the previous government. The new parliament has 10 women raising the percentage of women from 8.7% to 17%. Two active women, Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue and Marie Louise Coleiro Preca as Minister of Family and social solidarity are pushing the Labour government forward towards the development of a more gender equal society. The Labour Government is also supporting the EU Commissioner Reding's draft directive on targets for women on executive positions in companies quoted on the stock exchange.

⁷ Spain scored 33%; Italy 47%, Portugal 55% and Greece 62% (Eurobarometer 73.2 2010).

⁸ For welfare state, see Esping-Andersen (1990).

⁹ ‘Gallariji’ is the Maltese name for closed or boxed balcony adapted from Islamic culture, designed to segregate women and divide public and private life. ‘Ghonnella’ was a hooded cloak worn by Maltese women and had a similar function, to segregate women when in public.

¹⁰ Data was updated. The 2012 data shows that Malta has improved the situation. While the average EU29 member-states was 14.7, Malta is still the highest at 22.6%.

¹¹ Aghata Barbara was an ex-school teacher herself and the only woman president of Malta (1982–1987).

¹² She was the daughter of Sir Gerald Strickland, the leader of the Constitutional Party and Malta's Prime Minister in 1927–1932.

¹³ In Malta the police incident reports of domestic violence has seven different categories of domestic violence, including ‘staking’; however, physical violence often constitutes more than 60% of the total number of incidents. Fsadni's (2010) study also indicates that 93% of the women interviewed defined domestic violence as physical abuse, but as ‘Forms of Restricted freedom’, close to Stark's Coercive Control', by only 27% (Fsadni 2010, 4). It seems that after the enactment of the Domestic Violence Law of 2006, and perhaps also as a result of recent publicity by organizations advocating women's rights, this ‘Psychological Harm’ category is getting more attention—in 2010 data for this category stood at 27%, compared with 33% in 2012 (Malta Police Incident Report System 2013—personal communication with the Malta Police Headquarters, Floriana, Malta).

¹⁴ Malta has approximately 17,000–18,000-card carrying hunters and trappers and a politically active federation (FKNK) to mobilize them. The members tend to shoot illegally any bird that dares to fly over the Island. On 10 July 2012, two hunters shot and killed the last Maltese Peregrine Eagle, the symbol of Malta during the Knights era, which was breeding in Gozo (Caruana 2012). There has been no scholarly study of the political impact of the organization, but the leadership is unhappy with restrictions placed upon them by the EU regulations and this has threatened both political parties, who are well aware of the potential power of the organization. Both political parties have remained silent on the issue.

¹⁵ Maltese use a Semitic language which is predominately Arabic. Although, Malta was a British colony for more than 160 years, you may still come across some who are unwilling or unable to speak English.

¹⁶ The Maltese donate generously to their choice of charity. In 2012/2013, L-Istrina raised more than €3 million and Dar Tal Providenza, the largest church-owned and -run ‘home’ for people with disability, where the operating cost is around €3.5 million, raised more than €1 million. These donations are made by families as well as corporations, especially big banks—the donation by Banif Bank was more than €300,000.