On the trial by Facebook of the forced abortion case Roberta Lepre

Last week, a woman became a victim of yet another atrocious crime. Speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday, she told how she was bound and repeatedly hit and stabbed, whilst also being forced to swallow pills at knifepoint, resulting in the terminatio

If I didn’t’ know otherwise, I would have probably thought this story happened in some other country, somewhere far away. And yet, the crime scene was set in the once tranquil village of Swieqi.

Following various media reports, there were various public reactions on social media platforms and other fora. Besides the fear and anger resulting from the crime itself, the comments also echoed fury at the fact that the suspects are believed to have previous convictions, and yet have managed to travel freely in Europe, one of them reportedly also having obtained refugee status here in Malta. To my shock and horror, various comments exhibited not only xenophobic sentiments, but also severely hateful remarks about the victim herself.

Free movement

The principle of free movement of persons is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union. The Schengen agreement , which came into effect in 1995, further enabled passport-free travel across most EU member states. Recent terrorist attacks have made politicians rethink the parameters of the Schengen agreement, and it appears that some changes are in the pipeline in order to tighten up controls and security checks. Time will tell whether these changes will have an impact in deterring criminal activity and improving public safety. In the meantime, our authorities continue doing the best they can within the applicable parameters. In the longer term, citizens will have to weigh whether a limitation to their freedom of movement is/should be justifiable in order to mitigate the threat to our communities.

Hate speech and xenophobia

There seems to be a public sentiment that crime rates are on the increase. Recent car bombings, violent attacks and crimes against property fuel this sentiment. The media, although within its duty to keep the public informed, might be inadvertently aggravating this when it reports on such crimes. Despite public sentiment however, research suggests that criminal activity in Malta remains steady and overall Malta is still to be considered a ‘low crime’ nation.

Furthermore, there is currently no empirical evidence to suggest that this perceived increase in crime is a direct result of the influx of ‘foreigners’ into our shores. The usual social media commentators are quick to jump to the conclusion that it is in fact such ‘foreigners’ who are the only ones committing crimes and negatively impacting public safety.

These commentators should be reminded that by providing such gratuitous observations, they may perhaps be themselves instigating criminal behaviour, by antagonising the general public against such minority groups.

Furthermore, these comments can sometimes be tantamount to hate speech and therefore constitute criminal behaviour in themselves.

On the other hand, one cannot ignore the anecdotal evidence provided by residents of certain communities, which seems to suggest that the situation in certain areas needs to be addressed. On their part, authorities could do more to proactively manage diversity at the community level in order to deter friction between groups and avoid a deterioration of the current situation.

Victim blaming

Besides having to deal with the trauma of the crime itself, the victim(s) of this atrocious crime also has to deal with the secondary victimisation which most victims face when dealing with the criminal justice system.

Lack of information, inadequate support, inefficient systems, delays and other technical matters usually have the effect of aggravating the position of the victim rather than improving it.

To add insult to injury, the victim of this particular crime, as with victims of other genderbased crimes, has to deal with the horrendous reactions of some members of the general public. I myself could not contain my disgust when reading comments to the effect that the victim deserved what happened to her, merely for having been in a relationship with a person of a particular nationality.

Other comments directed blame and hatred towards the female gender as a whole, resorting to name calling using hateful and vulgar language. It is clear that victim blaming is alive and well in this country. Targeted educational efforts are required to address this behaviour and to adequately protect victims, starting from those who are in direct contact with them and who are supposedly there to protect them.

Apprehending the suspects of this case is going to be a challenging task. If and when they are apprehended and brought to justice, it is imperative to ensure that effective sanctions are imposed. Not only in this case, but also others which may be perceived as being of a less serious nature. If Malta really has a policy of zero tolerance vis-a-vis violence against women, it needs to be reflected in court pronouncements. As things stand today, the benefits of engaging in such criminal activity seem to be outweighing the sanctions.

“If Malta really has a policy of zero tolerance vis-a-vis violence against women, it needs “to be reflected in court pronouncements.