Want more women in politics? Call them "whores"

Rosianne Cutajar

The Youngest Female Maltese MP, Rosianne Cutajar was publicly called a "whore in heat", back in November. She was insulted on Facebook by retired auditor Godfrey Leone Ganado. Among the comments on the page there were many who agreed with the auditor as well as others calling her a "playgirl" and a "flirt in parliament".

Comments posted on Facebook against Cutajar

At present Rosianne Cutajar, 28, is the youngest MP; a member of the council of Europe; chairperson for eduction at NL (Nisa Laburisti); chairperson of the Family Affairs Committee and; head of Delegation OSCE PA. Additionally she is the former, first female mayor of Hal Qormi and former teacher.

Cutajar mentioned in an interview with Lovin Malta, that these insults come from the legacy of Daphne Caruana Galizia and have been "personified" by Leone Ganado. Caruana Galizia has many

mentions of this young MP in her blog "Running Commentary". Many of the blog posts focus on Cutajar allegedly working as an escort in Italy, partying hard in Paceville, and being photographed very often with a drink in her hand.

Cutajar has come very far and has been proving herself as being up to the task of an MP. A member of Nisa Laburisti has condemned the comments made against the MP mentioning how in this day and age it is no longer acceptable for a woman, especially a woman in politics, to be addressed in this manner.

In a poll carried out by Pew Research in the United States has shown that women stay away from politics as they feel they have to prove themselves far more than men. To add insult to injury, women are criticised for having a "soft" approach to issues but are called "scary" when they speak up. Women in politics are also called out more often than men for what they wear and for the way they look, which make us question, why aren't men asked these questions and why are women always viewed in the lights of fashion and not for what they are thinking?

During an interview with TimesTalk, Cutajar talks about how, it is true that she has previously made headlines for her success in politics but now she is no longer making headlines for doing positive things for the better female political representation but not it is for having to sue people for mocking her for being a whore.

In Malta, there are currently only 10 female MP's, making it one of the worst countries for female political representation in the world. Out of the 377 candidates running for parliament in last years elections, only 42 of them were women. In the beginning Cutajar herself was holding herself back from contesting in the elections however she felt that something had to be done for female representation and that her move would inspire other young women to stand up and represent their country putting aside the public slander they may get.

...there are lines that should never be crossed and we shouldn't require the courts to tell us that delegitimising women through obvious sexual connotations is wrong .Rosianne Cutajar

Cutajar said that this form of public verbal violence is why more woman stay away from politics and while reading this we all hope that in 2019, Malta can and will do better.