UN’s anti-discrimination committee calls on Malta to support divorce legislation

The United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has urged Malta to introduce and “support vigorously” legislation that permits divorce, in a host of recommendations it says are necessary to achieve equality between women and men.

16 November 2010, 12:00am
by Matthew Vella

2 min read

The committee published its remarks in its observations on Malta’s report on the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

It said the Maltese delegation was led by the acting permanent secretary of the education, employment and family ministry and the Equality Commissioner, but regretted the “inadequate answers provided to some of the questions and that questions were not always answered in a clear and precise manner.”

“The Committee expresses its concern about the inability to divorce in Malta which results in de facto discrimination against women. The Committee is further concerned about the lack of legal provisions governing de facto unions which could result in women being negatively affected in the event of the dissolution of the union,” it said on the division of property and assets of unmarried couples.

The committee also expressed concern that women who choose to undergo abortion, which is illegal in Malta – another area of concern for the same committee – are subject to imprisonment.

The committee called on Malta to consider exceptions for cases of therapeutic abortion and when the pregnancy is the result of rape of incest, and remove punitive measures for women who undergo abortion.

It said it was “particularly concerned” that Malta was mistakenly interpreting its obligations under Article 16 of CEDAW, as tantamount to legalising abortion. Malta still has reservations on the article, which calls on states to ensure equal rights for men and women to decide “on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights.”

Malta’s low female participation rate in political and public life also did not go unnoticed, with just 19.8% of women in local councils and Malta’s low 8.7% of women MPs.

Women remain “underrepresented” in the public administration, judiciary and diplomatic service, as well in the private sector, the committee said.

“The committee remains concerned about the persistence of patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and society… women continue to be stereotyped as caregivers and men as breadwinners.”

While commending Malta on the introduction of tax credits for children centres, the committee noted the lack of facilities, particularly for the 0-3 age group.

Matthew Vella, a freelance journalist at MaltaToday, was formerly executive editor at Malt...

•

it's the vatican- controlling here- we need a good journalists to investigate and expose the truth - here is some from world investigators : The short hidden agenda speech given by President John F. Kennedy prior to his assassination at the hands of the Jesuits and Vatican led New World Order should be highlighted again. It was Kennedy’s wish to expose Jesuit and Vatican control and his words below assuredly signed his death warrant for the Vatican felt betrayed and double-crossed after putting him in power as another one of their puppet New World Order leaders. Kennedy, of course, had a change of heart after being elected, siding with the people rather than his Vatican controllers. Here are the words that led directly to his death: “The very word secrecy is repugnant, in a free and open society. For we are, as a people, inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret proceedings and to secret oaths.” … “For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.” – John F. Kennedy’s secret society speech on April 27, 1961 (murdered on November 22, 1963). In light of Kennedy’s findings, the Arctic Becon has found the following synopsis put together by researchers at Wikipedia, regarding the Jesuits and Knights of Malta’s hidden New World Order agenda for America. This is a good starting point for any energetic researcher: Jesuit and SMOM agenda The Vatican, Jesuit Order, Knights of Malta and Black Nobility people have formed a complex masonic mafia network of global proportions, using many front organizations (infiltrated governments/churches/education, secret services, Catholic institutions, mega-corporations, financial institutions, Freemasonry, Masonic Judaism, and others) with disastrous effects on the lives of hundreds of millions of people. full read:http://www.arcticbeacon.com/greg/?p=127

•

The case against divorce is becoming even more isolated. It is utterly shameful for our country to be one of only two that does not allow divorce (excepting the Vatican but there no one marries and no one is born). It is time for Gonzi to take a lead in this matter and support the introduction of divorce. Leaders are there to make the hard decisions and not merely to meet distinguished leaders and have their photographs taken with them. In this vital test of leadership, Gonzi has failed.

•

it depends on the mentality not always cause in need of money- every case is different- so if a woman who have a good profession -must she stay home? and does that mean ,if she goes to work -she is not taking care of her family? I am sorry but if we look around- and see by our eyes, we know :) it's not the time that counts, it's the quality of time that we give to the family, that is - what about doctors, teachers ,lawyers etc... must they stop working ? come on its the medieval mentaility that must change starting by do Malta a real secular state- if that don't be than we must stay in a medieval time living- some people thinks only thinks that they are living ok- Malta needs help from orgs like this and the EU and from others to change the way the politicians treats the intelligence of the maltese people- I don't know how mnay these things can understand them- I urge the people to read and read- there is a whole world outside our country- we are part of it..........

•

I have a feeling that the female participation rate in Malta is relatively low partly due to the fact that not all women feel the need to work. Women married to husbands who earn a good salary probably feel they are financially comfortable and prefer staying at home looking after her family. There are also instances where the husband doesn't look favourably on a situation where his wife works in offices or in factories and makes it difficult for his wife to take a job by refusing to help out at home which is necessary to enable a married woman to work outside the home.