PD presents its first Private Members Bill aimed to provide more rights for rape victims

Partit Demokratiku has presented its first Private Members Bill which aims at providing protection and wellbeing for rape victims, among other things.

Godfrey Farrugia and PD Leader Marlene Farrugia gave the details of the bill during a press conference organised this morning in front of the Parliament building in Valletta. During the same press conference, the party also launched a campaign, called the 2L campaign or the Love and Life campaign.

Godfrey Farrugia explained that the country is facing a time of uncertainty and where politicians are detached from the public. "This is a campaign which aims to celebrate the beauty of life. We want this bill to apply politics of consent and consultation and this is why we are launching a consultation period before the doors of parliament reopen." The consultation period, as he explained, will go on for a couple of months.

Farrugia said the bill goes beyond providing protection to rape victims. It will address gender based violence and the safeguarding of the woman victims of rape and children conceived by rape. The bill proposes amendments in the Civil Law so that it can be used to the victim's advantage and as a detriment for rapists.

"We are policy makers, representing the people in parliament, thus we have the right and duty to create policies which protect life," Farrugia added.

The campaign, which will also include a 2 L Raped Victim Campaign, will be based on three principles; to threat the woman as a person, a victim of sexual abuse; to consider the protection of the child as paramount, and to address the vacuum there is in the law when it comes to address the persons who committed the sexual assault.

The bill proposed changes in the Civil Code Chapter 16, and aims to give the rape victim right to terminate parental rights of the rapist. Furthermore, the bill will give right for maintenance by the rapist parent even without the child - father relationship.

"We need to introduce compassionate measures to support and protect the human dignity and to protect the unborn child," he added.

from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2uMRBGZ
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