Maltese judges are applying a set of traditional and outdated ideas when it comes to cases of sex and rape and as a result, women are being left with no justice at all. There’s a situation in Malta where rape and sexual harassment are going on with impunity as the courts are taking these cases with a pinch of salt. Then there is also the culture of cover-ups and “internal investigations” which provide a layer of protection for aggressors that protects them from outright criminal investigations.
This very strange sentence by judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera is a good example. I find it very strange that just because the victim had to socialise with her aggressor, apparently it was concluded that the sex was consensual. Sexual harassment and rape may often come from the people you are closest to, and victims may often be trapped in a situation where they can’t easily avoid their aggressors. I don’t know why these concepts are not being embraced by our judiciary. Victims of sexual and even physical abuse are often trapped and feel helpless. We as human beings have various defense mechanisms and one of them is to cut our mind off completely from our body to dissociate ourselves from what is happening to us. Basically, many victims in a situation of abuse freeze and are unable to do anything at all. They can stay in this state for a long time due to the traumatic effect of the aggression. Those who fight back are the minority. And flight is not always an easy option as well. I am still amazed there is no one teaching these things about abuse.
Clearly, though some of our judges are in principle, very lax and permissive on rape, sexual harassment and even domestic abuse. Take for example this sentence where the magistrate said that a suspended sentence for a man who hit his wife in front of his own child, sends a strong message. No, it doesn’t, it sends a message of impunity and this is despite the fact that the man aggravated his actions by hitting his wife in front of his child. What a fucking disgrace of a man, and he is allowed to let go with effectively no punishment during a time when women are being murdered in our streets.
Then there are those who profit from situations of rape and abuse, like the imbeciles at the public broadcaster, and the losers writing and producing propaganda pieces for ONE.
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