The Malta Women’s Lobby has issued a strong call for action against femicide as Charlotte Zammit is laid to rest today, warning that Malta cannot continue adding women’s names to a growing list without addressing the failures behind their deaths.In a statement issued today, the lobby extended its condolences to her family, children and friends while pointing to more than 40 women killed by partners, former partners, boyfriends or other men known to them since 1978.“We are not collecting names. We are burying women,” the organisation said.The lobby argued that the response following each femicide has become repetitive, with public outrage and promises followed by silence until another woman is killed.It raised particular concern over how victims of domestic and gender-based violence are treated, pointing to victim-blaming, lengthy court proceedings and cases where men with documented histories of violence are repeatedly granted bail.The organisation also criticised a system where women and children are often the ones forced to leave their homes for safety, arguing that legal measures allowing perpetrators to be removed should be used more consistently.Education was another area highlighted, with the lobby calling for subjects including consent, coercive control, financial abuse and unhealthy ideas around jealousy to be addressed consistently from an early age.The Malta Women’s Lobby is now calling on the government to put femicide prevention, court reform and the removal of perpetrators from family homes at the centre of its policy, backed by published timelines and reporting under Malta’s obligations through the Istanbul Convention.“Sadly, we have become efficient at mourning and negligent at preventing,” it said.The lobby concluded that the warning signs and patterns surrounding violence against women are already known.“What is missing is the will to act between one funeral and the next.”•