Freedom for Rose Spiteri: A Case of Women's Activism
Thu, 05 Mar
|The Oratories
Speaker: Dr Simone Azzopardi University of Malta Entrance is free but donations are welcome. Access is from Archbishop Street
Time & Location
05 Mar 2026, 18:30 – 19:30
The Oratories, 21 Archbishop St, Valletta VLT 1443, Malta
About the event
On Women’s Day in 1982, a protest walk was held in Valletta calling for the release of Rose Spiteri, a mother who had been imprisoned on charges of bigamy. Her case captured public attention across the island: while many expressed sympathy and support, others cautioned against extending clemency.
Min-Naħa tan-Nisa (MNTN), a left-wing activist organisation committed to the progressive emancipation of women in Malta, became her leading advocate. Spiteri’s case, at the intersection of marital breakdown and social welfare, further highlighted MNTN’s commitment to pursuing legal reforms that would safeguard women’s rights.
This lecture examines the Spiteri case within the broader context of Malta’s fledgling but increasingly assertive feminist activism in the late 1970s and early 1980s, positioning it as a revealing episode in the history of early women’s mobilisation on the island.
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Simone Azzopardi is a historian of modern Malta, with particular interests in British imperial policy, gender…