Domestic violence perpetrators to be ejected from family home, new Bill proposes

A new law is proposing a tougher stand on domestic violence with Equality Minister Helena Dalli saying this evening that the Bill was about achieving equality at home.

"There could not be equality in the home if there existed violence," she said, adding it was government's duty not to ignore cases like the most recent one involving Natalie Williams, who was found after three days in a cave in Kalkara.

Dalli said Williams’s husband had not only beat her but also raped her. Rape was a phenomenon which also occurred amongst married couples, she said. "Luckily, the police found Williams alive, and if the government did not act on such cases, it would be failing Williams and others who went through the same situation," she told Parliament.

Dalli kick-started the Second Reading in Parliament of the Bill aimed at introducing tougher treatment for those perpetrating gender-based and domestic violence.

“We would be doing a great disservice if we did not do something to address those situations when persons feel that, when there is an argument at home, they have to use violence,” she said.

She explained that the Bill would not be restricted to the definition of domestic violence under the Istanbul Convention (on preventing and combating violence against women), but would also deal with violence on men.

The government would be addressing violence from the point of view of human rights and equality..

The Bill would usher in significant changes, she added. The first part would completely replace the Domestic Violence Act, and would be much broader. It would also give the Commission on Domestic Violence the role of monitoring the government’s activities as regards strides to eradicate violence.

It would also oblige the State to have a national strategy on gender-based and domestic violence, which strategy would be announced soon.

The first form of violence the Bill would deal with will be gender-based violence, she continued. Violence could take various forms - physical, verbal, sexual, work-based and many more.

The changes include higher punishments for domestic violence perpetrators and emergency protection orders, enabling the police to pull the perpetrator out of the family home following an on-the-spot decision on whether the victim is in danger.

It will also give the police power to institute proceedings against anyone engaging in domestic violence without the need of a complaint from the injured party.