Defining Malta’s values

Malta will be joining the ranks of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden, in setting a minimum age of marriage at 18 with no exceptions allowed.

The bill put forward by Reforms Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg started being debated in parliament at Second Reading stage this week. The proposed law will remove the exceptions in our law that allow a person to get married at 16 and 17 with parental consent.

The change will bring Malta in line with the recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to set the minimum age for marriage with and without parental consent to 18 years, for both girls and boys.

The CRC is a body of experts that monitor and report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When opening the debate, Buttigieg framed the proposed legal changes as necessary for a society that has grown culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse. She said that in some communities and religions it was acceptable to have arranged marriages that involved children, something that jarred with Malta’s commitment towards human rights and the protection of children from exploitation and abuse.

Two years ago, the Directorate for Child Protection Services had identified a case of a forced marriage where an underage girl was promised to a man for €5,000. Other voices at the time pointed towards similar instances of child marriages among certain communities from the Middle East and North Africa living in Malta. Child marriage robs children of their innocence.

And while the phenomenon in Malta may not be widespread, even one child being auctioned off like this is one child too many.

In this sense, it is good that the country is amending its legislative framework to prevent this from happening. Under the proposed amendments, which enjoy cross-party support, no exceptions will be permitted for civil, religious, or cultural marriages involving anyone under 18.

This legislation follows that enacted a few years ago when female genital mutilation—a brutal practice in certain communities that scars girls for life—became a criminal act.

This is one way how a secular country that has embraced multiculturalism in a rather erratic way ensures that the values of equality and non-discrimination it believes in are respected by others.

But the law on its own will never be enough to change attitudes. This needs to be accompanied by educational campaigns and administrative interventions among those communities where such practices are more prevalent.

But this outreach must not be limited to issues of child marriage and FGM. It should also extend to women’s rights in general and the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons. It is a known fact that in certain cultures women are afforded inferior treatment to men and LGBTIQ+ persons are discriminated against and even criminalised.

Migrants, whether they arrived in Malta through legal channels for work purposes or came here undocumented, should know what the Maltese state stands for, what the laws say, what is acceptable behaviour and what is not, and what the norms are.

This can help eliminate misunderstandings and provide a more harmonious multicultural experience for everyone.]

A broken promise

Robert Abela made it clear in parliament on Tuesday that Malta does not want to go it alone in recognising Palestine as a state despite an earlier pledge to do so by 20 June.

The prime minister reiterated the mantra that Palestinian statehood will be recognised by Malta when the circumstances are right. He once again did not say what these circumstances are.

When queried about this in parliament, Abela went on the defensive, blaming Roberta Metsola for darting to Israel shortly after the October 2023 attacks to show solidarity with Israel, and hitting out at the Opposition for doing nothing on Palestinian statehood while in power. These issues have absolutely no bearing on what the Labour administration decides to do.

Abela tried to deflect attention from his own inaction and broken promise but this behaviour prompts the question: Is the Maltese government being held to ransom by Israel and the US?

We won’t hold our breath waiting for an answer.