The David and Goliath Struggle – Legal Unit, pt 3

by Marine Giorgis, Case Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Marine’s input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

According to article 1 of the UDHR: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. After a year spent at aditus, I can affirm that this is the guideline of the work carried out on a daily basis by the staff members of the NGO. They carry out a Herculean task in a struggle that resembled the one between David and Goliath. A fight for justice and rule of law that is continuing for me since I was hired as a Case Officer by aditus at the end of my internship!

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An Incomparable Year of Change – Legal Unit, pt 2

by Mireille Boffa, Legal Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Alexis’ input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

I joined aditus foundation in July 2021 as a Junior Legal Officer and my work was mainly focused within the legal unit. I have previous experience within the legal field however the field of asylum and human rights was relatively new to me. Initially my work was focused on simpler procedures including applications for citizenship, residence documents, family reunification and long-term residence applications with the Identity Malta Agency and also follow-up with the relative agencies. I was also doing some research regarding country-of-origin information as well as CJEU, ECtHR and domestic courts case law.

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Working in a Challenging Environment – Legal Unit, pt 1

by Alexis Galand, Senior Legal Officer, Legal Unit, aditus foundation

An excerpt of Alexis’ input to aditus foundation’s Annual Activity Report for 2021. The full Annual Report 2021 may be downloaded here (.pdf). In the coming weeks we’ll be publishing the other team member inputs to the Annual Report.

I started working with the aditus foundation in May 2021 as their new Legal Officer. In this position, I was responsible for the organisation of the newly formed legal unit of the NGO, composed of a Junior Legal Officer, a Case Officer and one or more interns, and my role also involved in-depth legal work which required more advanced knowledge of European and Asylum law. This included written and oral submissions for appeals before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) after a rejection on the asylum application and detention and age assessments appeals before the Immigration Appeals Board (IAB). This proved particularly challenging due to a certain lack of expertise, or willingness, of several members of these quasi-judicial bodies appointed by the executive, with limited safeguards guaranteeing their independence and impartiality.

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Burning Bikinis

Burning Bikinis is a documentary exploring Malta’s feminist movement from the 1960’s till the present day. The film engages with leading figures of this movement, honouring their invaluable contribution to human rights in Malta. It draws the path from the legal and political invisibility of women to 2017, when the nation is still struggling to attribute to a woman’s mind and body the equal value, respect and freedom to those of a man.

Burning Bikinis is a film co-produced by aditus foundation and Subway Lab, with the support of Arts Council Malta, the US Embassy in Malta and the German Embassy in Malta. It was directed by Emmanuel Tut-Rah Farah ans Alessandro Tesei.

For more information contact Carla Camilleri, aditus foundation.


Burning Bikinis – Bikinis, Society, Women

Click to Enlarge – Letter from Archbishop Gonzi to Prime Minister Borg Olivier, 28th June, 1969 – Courtesy of the National Archives, Cabinet Papers, 413/51

Antonella and Carla have been busy carrying out research for Burning Bikinis. This week they looked through relevant Cabinet Papers covering the years between 1964 and 1969 with the helpful assistance of Joseph at the National Archives in Rabat. The documents contained correspondence, memos and newspaper clippings of the furore surrounding the “deplorable state of public morals” (Ref: OPM/413/51 Memo 1348, Courtesy of the National Archives) and the suggestions of the setting up of a special branch in the Police Force to safeguard public morality.

Correspondence was also found between Archbishop Gonzi to Prime Minister Borg Olivier dated 28th June, 1969, as can be seen further up. In response to the letter a Memo was drafted and presented to cabinet, an excerpt can be seen below:

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Courtesy of the National Archives, OPM/413/51, Memo No. 1348. Click to Enlarge

Although the text was not adopted in full and references to the bikini were removed from the final Memo, the discourse surrounding what was morally acceptable beachwear and behaviour continued.

Furthermore, a number of interviews have been carried to with women active in various feminist movements in Malta in the 1970s and 1980s. These women were the primary movers in enabling the public to discuss fairer family laws, the possible introduction of divorce and abortion in those decades.

This information will be used for the final docufilm which will be released in the first quarter of next year. We are also eager to hear from anyone who was a young women in the 1960s and therefore please contact us on antonellasgobbo@aditus.org.mt or carlacamilleri@aditus.org.mt.

Watch this space !

For more information visit the Burning Bikinis project page

 

with the support of

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