Two women attacked in Malta for kissing
February 09, 2012
Two women were attacked for kissing by an off-duty bus driver in Malta at a time when the country is debating hate crime legislation and homophobia.
Footage filmed by another passenger should Marco Borg, 43, attacking two women, aged 17 and 21 last Friday. The driver in charge of the bus restrained Borg after the attack.
Under current Maltese law, there are no additional penalties for crimes motivated by homophobia, but Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is said to be pushing for amendments to current hate crime laws.
Bus company Arriva said Borg had been let go of his job because it had “a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violence of any sort and would like to make it very clear that it condemns categorically and without reserve not only this incident but indeed any bullish, violent and other such reproachable and anti-social behavior.”
“Moreover, the bus operator wants to make it absolutely clear that it has a very clear and open diversity policy which all employees are bound to respect.”
The current debate in Malta over expanding hate crime legislation comes after two other girls were attacked in a crime motivated by homophobia.
“It’s not possible for a mentality of a country to change if the laws of that same country remain unchanged,” said Cyrus Engerer, LGBT Labour in Malta spokesman, speaking to Malta Today.
Not everyone is onboard with hate crimes legislation.
“It makes little sense to punish the different motives of a crime when the end result is the same – injury to the victim,” said Claire Bonelle, a lawyer and opinion writer, speaking to the Times of Malta.
“If a person is attacked because the aggressor feels some sort of personal animosity towards the victim, why should that attack be punished less severely than one where the aggressor hates the victim because of the latter’s religious affiliation or belonging to a minority group?
“The whole notion of hate crimes does away with the concept of equality in the eyes of the law.”
Image by Marco Gomes
