Development of human rights in Malta with a particular focus on gender

Abstract

Malta is in the process of strengthening its structural mechanism in the field of human rights. This was clearly declared in The 2014 Budget Speech which highlights government’s intention to widen the scope of the Commission for the Promotion of Equality so that this becomes a Commission for Human Rights and Equality. For this reason, in 2014, the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties initiated a scoping consultation on the White Paper that was launched to serve as a basis for the setting up of the National Commission for Human Rights and Equality. It was in this context that the field of human rights was chosen as the topic for my dissertation. This study explores the development of human rights with a special focus on gender limiting this work to equality between women and men. The reason for this focus was mainly in order to remain within the length limits imposed on such a dissertation even though in recent years significant legal and administrative developments have been made in the field of gender identity, sexual preference, sex characteristics and gender expression. Malta cannot boast of a human rights commission as none exist to date. However, Malta can boast of having two equality bodies. In fact, Malta is one of the 31 members of the European Network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET). Malta lists the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) and the Kummissjoni Nazzjonali għall-Persuni b’Diżabilitὰ (KNPD) as the two national equality bodies. Countries, like Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have an entity specifically working on fundamental human rights. Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) declare that they have an equality and human rights commission. Malta is working on developing the same mechanism as Ireland and the UK. The objective of the NCPE is to work towards ensuring that Maltese society is a society free from any form of discrimination based on sex/gender and family responsibilities, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, racial or ethnic origin, and gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics in employment; banks and financial institutions, as well as education; and on racial / ethnic origin and gender in the provision of goods and services and their supply. Therefore, although the Constitution of Malta protects the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual, no specific national mechanism, in the form of a commission or an ombudsman, has ever been set up and given the responsibilities to promote and safeguard these rights. Thus, as stated above, the aspirations of the Maltese Government in this regard are to include human rights in the remit of the NCPE. It is in this context that this dissertation is being developed. The objectives are to understand and record the development and progress made on the international level in a historical context; to contextualise these developments in the national climate; to analyse the progress made; how national identity and political discourse defined the process of these developments in Malta and finally to propose the way forward to strengthen human rights instruments for the Maltese citizen.