Government drawing up relationships policy

The government is working on Malta's first relationships policy to help reduce incidents of domestic violence, social solidarity minister Michael Farrugia announced.

Addressing the launch of an 89.7 Bay campaign against domestic violence at the Waterbiscuit lounge bar, Farrugia said that the policy will incorporate both romantic and other types of relationships, and will focus on education at an early age.

"If we do more to teach children to respect each other, then we might be able to tackle the problem of domestic violence," he said.

Bay's campaign '#walkaway' will include billboards, fliers, regular radio spots, social media videos, and the launch of a new song.

Between 2009 and 2013, a total of 1402 people reported domestic violence abuse to the police.

However, Farrugia warned that the true figure is likely to be even higher - with several cases of domestic violence go unreported, as many victims fear humiliation by the police,

"It is important that we keep on training the police on empathy with domestic violence victims, so that the victims don't get to feel like victims twice over'" he said.

Civil liberties minister Helena Dalli, under fire for her defense of violent comments recently passed by Labour MP Joe Debono Grech to independent MP Marlene Farrugia, hailed her own track record in the domestic violence sector.

"I had presented Malta's first ever White Paper on domestic violence back in 1998, and this current administration has signed the Istanbul convention on domestic violence, introduced legislation against forced marriages and female genital mutiliation, and doubled the budget allocated to the commissioner against domestic violence," she said.