By Martina Said
SOS Malta fights to combat any gender-based violence, including genital mutilation present within and outside Europe
Family minister Dolores Christina today extended her solidarity towards victims of domestic violence, marking the international day for the elimination of violence against women, and reinforced government’s commitment to continue to provide support services to victims.
“Society at large should fight this social wound, which is causing widespread suffering to women and children especially, stripping them of their dignity,” Christina said. “We have various structures working to raise awarness against this form of violence, and others that offer comfort and support.”
The Commission for domestic violence trains professionals from different disciplines to improve the services given to victims. Appogg agency and other volantary organisations also offer support services namely the emergency shelter.
“I encourage victims of domestic violence to be brave and not give in to their aggressors, but to seek support instead,” the minister said.
SOS Malta, a registered NGO set up to help persons in times of crisis, emphasised its commitment to fight any form of gender-based violence, which includes protection against harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation.
Women activists have commemorated 25 November as a day against violence since 1981, marking the brutal assassination in 1960 of Patria Mercedes, Maria Argentina Minerva and Antonia María Teresa Mirabal, political activists in the Dominican Republic.
“Around the world, as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way - most often by someone she knows, including by her husband or another male family member; one woman in four has been abused during pregnancy,” SOS Malta said in a statement.