AD believes that harsher penalties should be meted out for gender equality discrimination.

AD Spokesperson on Social Policy and Civil Rights Angele Deguara claimed that AD was always a forefront speaker for gender equality; consistently clear about the principle and making concrete proposals. She proposed there that should be a clear gender policy strategy that targets every aspect of life and all levels of government.

“The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) needs to be strengthened significantly in terms of both financial and human resources and given greater legal powers to act against discrimination and propose changes in legislation as necessary” said Ms Angele Deguara.

AD Chairperson Michael Briguglio said that a much larger investment is needed to introduce family friendly measures that enable both women and men to participate in both public and private lives. These include the provision of universal free childcare, the extension of after school services, measures such as flexitime, job sharing and telework, leave for working parents when their children are sick and an extension to maternity leave.

AD believes that there should also be a clear mechanism to ensure that women are effectively represented on Government and company boards.

AD is satisfied that some of the proposals are being taken up by both PN and PL, showing that it is a party with progressive vision with proposals that are very often way ahead of the ‘big’ parties.