I thank the Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity Committee and the Gender and Sexualities Department of the University of Malta for inviting me to give the opening address of today’s seminar focusing on Women, Politics and Violence.
This last century has witnessed the advent of women into the filed of politics in a more visible manner.
Women are stepping into the political field as active participants in civil society networks, elected representatives at local and national levels, executive positions in international organisations and in professions on the periphery of politics, predominantly journalism.
This has resulted in the emergence of a toxic new dimension being added to violence in general against women: namely violence directly targeting at women in politics.
From the very outset, I ask you to forgive me if I am a bit extreme in my views regarding women and violence. The reason is that I consider, we women of the world, at the present time, in varying degrees, are still the victims of centuries of patriarchal domination and stereotypical pigeonholing. To my thinking, depriving humanity of women’s potential contributions for the benefit of humankind because of misogynistic attitudes and prejudices is an act of violence against humankind itself.
Violence against women in politics constitutes a specific form of gender-based violence singling out women because of political involvement. Many of these attacks are rooted in cultural norms that resist the idea of women holding power. Women are targets not for their policies or political ideologies, but also because they dare to challenge traditional gender roles by stepping into public life.
Violence against women in politics is perpetrated in many forms; sexual harassment, economic constraints, and discriminatory practices. Even when positive measures are implemented, efforts are still required to address the imbalances caused by social structures.
This type of violence can also involve physical attacks, which sometimes result in death, as well as online harassment and cyber violence, given that the digital sphere has become the latest platform for the abuse of women. In the warped minds of misogynistic individuals, these women must be brought into line, they must be discouraged from achieving their full potential, they must be prevented from being of service to others.
The tragedy is that sexist and personal insulting remarks, fake information threats, adulterated images and other forms of bullying are at times successful in freezing the political aspirations of women and girls ad, hence the perpetrators are successful in their ultimate aim of keeping women in a state of subjugation and depriving others of the benefits that women’s perspectives can bring to leadership.
It is only relatively recently that efforts have started to collect statistical data regarding this phenomenon.
According to Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) statistics from 2016 (Worldwide), 2018 (Europe), and 2025 (Asia-Pacific) show that 85.2% of female MPs experienced psychological violence during their term, with 1 in 5 reporting sexual harassment and 67.9% reporting physical appearance or gender-related comments.
Still from data gathered by the IPU, at a global and regional level, 81.8% of women MPs report psychological assault, and 65% refer to sexist statements. In the Asia-Pacific region, 60% MP respondents reported psychological violence and online gender-based assault.
In the run-up to the 2017 general election, a UK Labour MP, Diane Abbott, received around 8,000 abusive messages in just a few weeks.
Being not only female but also dark-skinned, tweets regarding her rounded up to nearly half of all the abusive tweets sent to female candidates in the run-up to the 2017 general election.
Nevertheless, the underlying factor is that they are targeted because they are women.
From the same IPU data, considering that an average of 45% of women MPs reported that they had faced threats of death, rape, beatings or abduction worldwide, that is including Europe, gives cause for very serious concern.
Cases frequently mentioned are the murders of British MP Jo Cox in 2016, Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh in 2003, Texico’s Mayor Gisela Mota in 2016 and Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto in 2008.
Across the globe, women have also been killed due to indirect political connections. These include
- Victoria Marinova, a Bulgarian TV presenter and director, was found raped and murdered, shortly after broadcasting an interview on an EU fraud investigation;
- Veronica Guerin, a crime reporter for the Sunday Independent, was murdered by assailants on a motorcycle in retaliation for her investigative reporting on Ireland’s criminal underworld;
These names illustrate that not only women who are directly involved in party structures and electoral lists and systems are targeted, but also women in professions and positions peripheral to politics.
From these tragedies, similarly to others across the globe, the murders were motivated not solely by direct and frontal political stances, but also because their profession, put them in an influential position.
Males in similar positions, may also irk those segments of society still slaves of prejudicial thinking and attitudes, however, from this reference to the above quoted figures, that this data has referred to, I am struck by the treatment meted to women is extra brutal, vicious, at times savage because of their feminine gender.
Malta has not remained untouched by this phenomenon. We have had our own dreadful experience in the case of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, which I have mentioned before.
I may have been lucky that I was a front runner in politics and an activist for gender equality at a time when the internet did not hold sway in the way it has taken over and invaded people’s lives.
At that time, sexist remarks were snide, at times to one’s face, sometimes blatant and under the belt as, when pregnant with my third child, at district level, one of the other candidates from the same party, together with his canvassers went around the district urging voters not to vote for me since with three children, and being the principal breadwinner for my family, I would have no time left to devote to citizens.
At that time, even women tended to concur with this analysis – thankfully, the majority of women seem to have moved away from that frame of mind.
Also, and this persists, women’s grooming and dress sense still seem to infiltrate the analysis of their qualities.
I was shocked at the way in which our young women, those who have not shied away from offering themselves up for service to the population, the way they were, and they are treated by remarks on the internet, and this especially happened during the run-up to the last general election. And I am seeing two of them here present with us today.
Gender inequality in politics has different causes, but I have to remark that at the present time, both government and opposition and also other political formations still in their infancy, appear to be very much aware of the benefits of gender equality and gender participation in politics.
Agreement between the two parties in parliament on the need to have a better gender representation, has so far resulted in more female members, since it was females who were underrepresented.
However, it pains me that even though the corrective method used to redress this imbalance is the same method already incorporated into the constitution as regards proportionality between votes cast and seats, the persisting view is that women elected by the corrective mechanism resulting from the amendments to the electoral law are not viewed as being equal to the other elected representatives – this, apart from the fact that, at electorate level particularly in the run-up to the last general elections, these corrective amendments backfired, since one of the comments being banded about was that women were going to make it parliament anyway.
This is not the case. The electoral law is clear. In parliament, there is no distinction between those individuals at first instance and those elected by by-elections or through the collective mechanisms. All of them are elected according to the electoral law.
Violence against Women in Politics goes beyond criticism of a political nature or a mere personal attack. The violence inflicted silences voices, limits leadership pools, and discourages women from entering public life.
I am sure that this conference will deeply analyse this situation at the present time.
The problem is global. In addition to remedial efforts at national levels, efforts at international levels also have to be intensified, and I think that we have got to give a new life to the concept of sisterhood in politics.
