Towards a European observatory on femicide

Includes Notes on contributors and IndexThe definition of the term ‘femicide’ has been historically constructed and debated. Femicide is the culmination of different forms of violence against women and failure by the state to protect women from violence (WAVE, 2017b). As opposed to the ‘homicide of women’, or ‘uxoricide’, the term femicide is politically charged to bring awareness to the killing of women due to their gender. Often, but not always, these murders occur within societies structured on and functioning within deeply rooted patriarchal beliefs.peer-reviewe

Femicide definitions

Words constrain our perceptions and experiences. Our language builds our thoughts and is a powerful tool to describe the world. The words used in language represent an ambivalent tool that we can use to express our own perceptions, emotions and thoughts, and at the same time, they determine our experiences and social imaginary (cf. Castoriadis, 1975), using a previously established corpus of meanings and order. We can, however, do things and transform the world using language as a tool. Defining a social problem in a certain way leads to a specific possible solution, which is dependent on the way the problem is defined. Furthermore, we have to acknowledge that the perspective of those that pose the problem (such as individuals, groups, communities and so on) is affected by their view of the social system within which they perceive the problem (Foerster, 2003).peer-reviewe

Early school leaving and wellbeing in Malta and beyond : a statistical analysis

Early school leaving is a complex educational, economic, and social issue with significant negative consequences for individuals, societies, and national economies. While Malta has been applauded for its fast declining rates of early school leaving, the country is still significantly above the EU average and above the rate of early school leaving in all other EU countries, bar one. Due to inherited educational structures and prevailing social, economic, and labour market conditions, Malta is recently experiencing slower rates in decline of early school leaving and a slight increase in the number of females in the early school leaving bracket. One hopes that recent comprehensive measures included in the Malta National Reform Programme and Education policies of recent years will contribute to the further decrease of the early school leaving rate in Malta, hopefully close to the ambitious target of halving the ESL rate from 20.4% to 10% by 2020. This study aims to contribute to the ongoing analysis, debate, and efforts focused on the reduction of the early school leaving rate by providing relevant evidence for understanding potential links between early school leaving and various aspects of wellbeing. The study also sets out to identify the knowledge gaps that exist in this domain and to prepare background information for a potential second phase of the study, which would focus on conversations with early school leavers around issues flagged by the present study. Ultimately, we intend for this research to prepare the way for future applied studies of early school leaving.peer-reviewe

Full cooperation : zero violence barriers to help-seeking in gender-based violence against women : a research study

BACKGROUND: This research project, carried out by the Department of Gender Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, is part of a national project entitled ‘Full Cooperation Zero Violence’ and is cofunded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union. The project is being managed by the Human Rights and Integration Directorate within the Ministry for European Affairs and Equality.RESEARCH PURPOSE: This research attempts to identify and explore the barriers being faced by survivors of gender-based violence against women in Malta and Gozo when seeking help at the various state and voluntary services as seen from their perspective, as well as those faced by professionals when delivering a service to the survivors as seen from the professionals’ perspective.DEFINITIONS: The two central concepts in this study were ‘Violence against Women’ (VAW) and ‘Gender-Based Violence’ (GBV). The study used, and was informed by, the definitions provided by the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, also referred as the Istanbul Convention. This Convention defines “violence against women” as: ‘a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender‐based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life;’ (Article 3a). Moreover, “gender-based violence against women” is defined as: ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately’. (Article 3d).DESIGN: This study adopted a qualitative research design and the data collection strategy used included 16 qualitative interviews and six focus groups with both survivors and professionals. A total of 50 participants took part in the study - 23 survivors and 27 professionals. The interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed; the transcripts were subjected to rigorous coding following the Constant Comparative Method. A strict adherence to the principles of research ethics was crucial given that participants included vulnerable persons. The credibility and trustworthiness of the research was ascertained mainly through a respondent validation process, data and observer triangulation and reflexivity.peer-reviewe