Mqabba Deputy Mayor Under Fire For Implying Women Like Being Beaten

Jonathan Dingli, Labour’s deputy mayor in Mqabba, has come under heavy criticism after making a controversial remark on Facebook.

His comment appeared under a post by ONE News and was directed at Nationalist Party leadership hopeful Adrian Delia. Dingli wrote that Delia “should have been born a woman, because you like being beaten too much.”

The statement quickly drew widespread condemnation, with the comment reportedly having been removed.

The Nationalist Party issued a reaction stressing that words which belittle the suffering of abuse survivors have no place in public discourse. They argued that as a councillor, Dingli has a duty to promote respect and to set an example, especially in relation to issues that affect women.

PN representatives in Mqabba, Minority Leader Noel Galea and councillor Owen Sciberras, have requested that the Commissioner for Domestic Violence publicly denounce Dingli’s comment.

They also urged the Commissioner to call for an apology and to push for his resignation from both roles within the local council.

The Commissioner went on t condemn the comments, saying that the consequences of these actions continues to strengthen a misogynistic culture that leads to further inequality and gender based violence.

Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms, Rebecca Buttigieg, also criticised the statement, describing it as unacceptable and evidence of the need to continue working against such attitudes.

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