Seriously address 'massage parlours' and protect vulnerable women, equality NGO tells government

On International Women’s Day, the Association for Equality said the path to equality in Malta remained long and winding, while calling for concrete action by the government

A4E called on the government to seriously look into massage  parlours to ensure no abuse is taking place
A4E called on the government to seriously look into massage parlours to ensure no abuse is taking place

The Association for Equality (A4E) has called on the government to address the large number of massage parlours offering sexual services, which have mushroomed round the island in recent years.

In a statement issued on the occasion of International Woman’s Day, A4E said that government “seriously needs to look into” these establishments “in order to ensure that vulnerable women and young girls are not being trafficked, exploited or abused”.

The NGO also said that “in line with Nordic Model, the prostitution reform should include a three-pronged approach that criminalises the buying of sexual services, decriminalises the selling of services and provides support exit strategies for prostituted persons”.

A4E said it was reiterating that the path to full equality between men and women in Malta was still long and winding and that much more effort was required to reach this goal.

Maltese women, it said, still face “rampant discrimination” at work, adding that the wage gap was also on the rise.

“Maltese women are highly under-represented in top positions within businesses as well as in politics,” the NGO said. “Evidence shows that far too many women suffer sexual harassment at work.”

To address the wage gap “more seriously”, A4E said the government needed to ensure there was “transparency and accountability within companies”.

Furthermore, on the issue of sexual harassment at the workplace, the NGO insisted there be adequate punishment for those found guilty.

Away from the workplace, A4E pointed out that women still “carry the lion’s share  of unpaid work in the family. “Dreadfully, a quarter of women suffer abuse and violence, with some actually having been killed by their partner.”

It said that despite the introduction of legislation allowing the police to prosecute abusers of domestic violence without the victim’s testimony or consent, “the police seem reluctant to do so, and women are still not taken seriously when reporting such crimes”.

A4E said that to make matters worse, aggressors often get away with it or simply get a slap on their wrist.

In this regard, the NGO called for more training to be given to the police on dealing with cases of domestic violence, adding that action needed to be taken every time such crimes are committed, even if the victim is too scared to take action.

A4E called for priority to be given to sexual and relationship education that promotes mutual respect, in line with the principals of gender equality.

Finally, it said political parties needed to ensure better female representation in parliament by presenting an equal number of men and women for elections, while urging the government to encourage more fathers to take up paid paternity leave.