Domestic violence in Malta: recognising abuse, getting help and understanding your legal options

Domestic violence can affect your safety, health, finances and ability to make decisions about your life. In Malta, as elsewhere, it can also affect your children, even when the violence is not directed at them.

This guide explains how to recognise abuse, where to find support in Malta and Gozo, and how the law can help with protection, your home, children and separation. You can seek support while you are still deciding what to do about your relationship.

If you are in danger now

Call 112 if you or someone else is in immediate danger, or needs urgent police or medical assistance. The emergency number operates 24 hours a day. Do not wait for a legal appointment if you need emergency help. Provide your location and explain what is happening.

If you can reach a safer place without increasing the danger, do so. Seek medical assistance if you have been injured. Do not delay getting help to collect belongings or evidence.

For support and help finding the right service, call 179. This national helpline is free from landlines and mobile phones and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides crisis support, information and referrals to local services.

If someone monitors your phone or internet use, consider whether you can seek help through a safer device or with someone you trust. A social worker can help you plan the next steps around your circumstances.

What can domestic violence look like?

Abuse can involve power and control as well as physical injury. It may include:

• Physical abuse: hitting, pushing, grabbing, restraining you or preventing access to medical care.
• Sexual abuse: forcing or pressuring you into sexual activity without your consent.
• Psychological or emotional abuse: intimidation, humiliation, threats or behaviour intended to make you afraid.
• Economic abuse: withholding money, controlling access to finances or preventing you from working.
• Isolation and control: restricting contact with friends and family, monitoring you or limiting your independence.

Domestic abuse can affect people of different ages, genders and backgrounds. Visible injuries are not the only sign that someone needs help.

If you feel unsafe or controlled but are unsure how to describe what is happening, explain the behaviour to a support worker or lawyer. You do not need to identify the correct legal label before asking for help.

How does Maltese law define domestic violence?

The Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act, Chapter 581, provides the current statutory definition.

Article 2 covers acts and omissions involving verbal, physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence causing physical or moral harm or suffering. It includes threats, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty within a family or intimate relationship. The people involved do not have to live, or previously have lived, together.

The law covers current and former spouses, civil union partners, cohabitants within the statutory definition, people with a child in common, specified relatives, and people in current or past sentimental or intimate relationships. Children who witness violence are also included.

The Act requires protection without discrimination, including on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or migrant status (articles 2 and 4).

Whether particular conduct amounts to a criminal offence, and what measures a court should order, require assessment of the facts and the relevant law. Seeking support does not require you to resolve those questions yourself.

Where can you get help in Malta and Gozo?

Different services can help with different needs. You may need emergency assistance, somewhere safe to stay, support with reporting, or advice about children and separation.

Reporting to the police

You can report domestic violence at any police station. The police explain that you will be accompanied to a specialist Gender-Based and Domestic Violence Unit hub for further investigation.

You can also report directly to a domestic-violence hub. The police currently list hubs in Santa Luċija, Mtarfa and Gozo, operating 24/7 and supported by police officers and social workers. Their website provides location links.

Appoġġ and social-work support

Appoġġ’s Domestic Violence Unit, within the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, provides crisis assistance, risk assessment, safety planning and ongoing social-work support. Its wider service supports people across genders, sexual orientations and nationalities. 179 is a practical starting point for finding the appropriate support.

If you are considering leaving, a safety plan can help you think through where to go, how to seek help and what your children may need. Ask for support tailored to your circumstances rather than feeling you must arrange everything alone.

Emergency accommodation

If you cannot safely remain at home, explain this to the police or your social worker, or call 179. Għabex provides emergency shelter for women experiencing violence and their children. Social workers can assess your needs and help identify suitable accommodation and support.

Victim support

The Victim Support Agency provides free information, emotional support and legal guidance. Its national helpline, 116006, operates every day, including public holidays, from 07:30 to 19:30. For immediate danger, use 112.

Legal assistance

Legal Aid Malta provides legal advice for victims without a means test. Eligibility for representation in civil proceedings, including separation, is a separate matter and may involve means and merits requirements. Ask which assistance applies to your situation; victim advice does not automatically mean every related civil case will receive free representation.

Note that The Family Law Practice is not affiliated in any way with Legal Aid Malta, and hence does not offer free legal aid.

What happens when you report domestic violence?

You should be offered a private interview, assistance from a legal adviser or social worker, and interpreter support where needed. You can ask to be accompanied by someone you trust, subject to considerations concerning the investigation and your interests. It also explains risk assessment, accommodation arrangements and assistance for foreign nationals.

Tell the police about the immediate incident and any earlier behaviour that helps explain the risk. Explain whether there have been threats, whether children are affected and whether it is safe for you to return home. If you have an existing court order, bring it to their attention.

You can ask how you will receive updates, who you should contact if the situation changes, and what to do if an order is breached. Tell the service how it can contact you safely.

What protection can the courts provide?

The Criminal Code provides different orders at different stages:

• Temporary protection orders: article 540A provides a risk-assessment process. Where the investigation and assessment reveal serious risk of harm, police must seek an order immediately, no later than 12 hours after receiving the report, information or complaint. The magistrate’s decision is due within eight hours of receiving the application.
• Protection orders: article 412C provides for orders during criminal proceedings.
• Restraining orders: article 382A provides for orders following conviction.

The applicable conditions depend on the order. A temporary order generally lasts until the first court sitting or 30 days, whichever comes first, with provisions for extension. The statutory deadlines do not guarantee an order in every case.

Ask what your order prohibits, when it expires and whether further action is needed. If it is breached, report the breach promptly; call 112 if there is immediate danger.

Your home, maintenance and children

Domestic violence may require urgent family-court action alongside police involvement. See personal separation for how the wider process works.

Your home and maintenance. Civil Code article 37 permits applications before separation proceedings concerning interim maintenance and occupation of the matrimonial home. Where domestic violence is involved, the application must be appointed for hearing within four days. The court may issue protection or treatment orders before or after hearing the parties. Article 39 provides protective powers during relevant lawsuits.

Your children. Under article 56A, evidence of domestic violence constitutes a grave reason relevant to a declaration of unfitness for custody (see care and custody). Article 57 allows restrictions where parental involvement risks harm, and access may be forbidden where detrimental to the welfare of a child or parent. Decisions depend on the circumstances. Article 37 also applies to specified child-related disputes between unmarried parents.

Explain any risks connected with contact, collecting children or returning to the home. If an existing order creates a safety concern, seek urgent advice about protective measures or changing the arrangements. A lawyer can help identify the application needed and the evidence relevant to it.

Do you have to experience repeated violence before seeking separation?

You do not necessarily have to endure another incident.

In Z1 v Z2, decided by the Court of Appeal on 29 January 2026, the court explained that one sufficiently proved violent act may justify separation, depending on the circumstances. It also discussed serious physical and psychological violence when explaining the civil concepts of excesses and cruelty. Our note on the case is at a spouse does not have to endure repeated violence.

The decision concerns separation grounds, rather than creating a universal test for every criminal offence. Its practical significance is that a spouse should not assume repeated violence is necessary before taking legal advice about separation (application 61/2015/3 AGV, paragraphs 51 to 57).

Article 40 of the Civil Code includes excesses, cruelty, threats and grievous injury among separation grounds.

Does violence have to involve physical force?

Maltese appellate courts have also considered violence beyond physical force.

In Il-Pulizija v David Xuereb, decided by the Court of Criminal Appeal on 28 September 2022, the court discussed the Istanbul Convention’s definition of violence against women, including psychological harm and coercion. In the sexual-offence context before it, the absence of physical force did not exclude violence where the relevant threats, coercion and harm were established.

The judgment illustrates why visible injuries cannot be the sole measure of violence. The legal assessment still depends on the conduct, evidence and particular offence (appeal 383/2017, pages 13 to 14).

Domestic violence, mediation and the family-court reform

If you are afraid of the other person, tell your lawyer and the mediator. Explain any threats or pressure affecting your ability to participate or make decisions freely. See family court mediation for how mediation works.

The Family Court Proceedings Regulations, S.L. 12.35, expressly address domestic violence. Regulation 21 requires a mediator who becomes aware of, or has reason to suspect, domestic violence to inform the judge immediately. The regulations also provide for Children’s Advocates and applications concerning unresolved interim issues, including maintenance, children’s residence, custody and access.

An important distinction applies as at 11 October 2026: regulation 20(1), setting out a new procedure for possible suspension of mediation and an urgent hearing within four days, has not yet come into force. Legal Notice 219 of 2026 brought regulation 20 into force from 1 October 2026 “with the exception of sub-regulation (1)”. Existing urgent powers under Civil Code article 37 remain separate and available where their conditions are met. Always check for any update that may have occurred following the last update to this guide.

The rest of regulation 20 is in force. Regulation 20(2) requires referral for police investigation where the court finds that evidence concerning alleged domestic violence or intentional manipulation of a minor was false or misleading. An allegation that is not proved is not automatically a finding of false evidence.

A mediator’s role and a court’s protective powers serve different purposes. Tell your lawyer about safety concerns promptly so that the appropriate protective route can be considered.

Can you withdraw a report?

Do not assume that withdrawing a complaint automatically ends proceedings. Article 543 of the Criminal Code allows police action without the victim’s complaint in relevant domestic-violence cases. A victim may request a stay, but the court may direct proceedings to continue after considering relevant interests, including those of children.

If someone pressures you to change your account or withdraw, tell the police, your lawyer or social worker. Explain any threats or concerns about what may happen next.

Preparing for legal advice, when it is safe

You can seek advice before you have a complete set of documents. If you already have relevant material and can access it safely, it may help to provide:

• A brief account of what happened and any earlier incidents.
• Relevant messages, emails or other communications.
• Police-report details, medical records and photographs already available to you.
• Existing protection orders, family-court decrees or separation agreements.
• Information about your children, current living arrangements and immediate financial needs.

Keep original material where possible. Avoid taking risks to obtain evidence or making changes to a monitored device without considering whether this could increase danger. Ask for help planning how to preserve information safely.

Tell your lawyer what needs attention first: protection, somewhere safe to stay, children, money or the existing court arrangements. These concerns can be addressed together, while recognising that different services and applications may be needed.

Taking the next step

The Family Law Practice can advise on how domestic violence affects separation, occupation of the matrimonial home, maintenance and arrangements for children, and on the protective applications relevant to your circumstances. See child and spousal maintenance and contested separation.

For immediate danger, call 112. For round-the-clock support and referral to local services, call 179.