{"id":1411,"date":"2018-06-08T14:08:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T12:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=1411"},"modified":"2018-06-13T13:41:00","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T11:41:00","slug":"irrid-gustizzja-ghal-uliedi-omm-u-nanna-li-garrbet-u-ghadha-ggarrab-it-tbatija-u-l-faqar","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/irrid-gustizzja-ghal-uliedi-omm-u-nanna-li-garrbet-u-ghadha-ggarrab-it-tbatija-u-l-faqar\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI want justice for my children\u201d \u2013 a mother and grandmother who suffered and is still suffering from poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cI<\/span> want justice for my children \u2026\u201d. This is what Jennifer Borg*, a 40-year old single mother of three and grandmother of three, who grew up in poverty and is now still living a hard life following separation from her ex-husband.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jennifer became a mother at 17. She got married at 18 and had three children:<\/span> two girls, now aged 22 and 20 and a boy of 12. One of the girls is living with her partner, the other is living with her and the boy is living with his father.<\/span><\/p>\n

She is also a grandmother to three children. She has been in and out of court for the last five years. \u201c<\/span>They say that the perpetrator of domestic violence should leave the home but I ended up leaving the home and I am the victim\u201d, Jennifer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since January 2018 she has been living on her own in a small garage in <\/span>Marsascala<\/span>.<\/span> She used to live in another place in another locality, but the house was old and when she asked the owner to carry out maintenance works on the walls as the humidity was affecting her daughter\u2019s health the owner ordered her to evacuate the place as there were others who were ready to rent it. She could not afford to rent elsewhere at <\/span>\u20ac700<\/span> a month as she had court expenses to pay. Jennifer told Voice of the Workers that she has hardly anything to eat. \u201cIf you open the cupboard all you will find is noodles,\u201d Jennifer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She decided to rent a garage for <\/span>\u20ac300<\/span> a month as she found nothing<\/span> cheaper.<\/span> \u201cMy daughter should be with me but at the moment she is living with my mother\u201d, Jennifer explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asked whether she has some form of help, Jennifer said that the Housing Authority has known about her case for five years and they keep telling her to wait <\/span>until she is allocated a place to live. At one time the Authority <\/span>dropped<\/span> her application but<\/span>, thankfully, she found a good soul at the Authority who reopened the file.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her problem is that her matrimonial home belongs to the Housing Authority and the contract was drawn up in her name as well as her ex-husband\u2019s name. <\/span>Because their assets have not been divided, she is stuck. She said if she were to cede the home to her ex-husband, it would seem to <\/span>Government that she had a place and she refused it. \u00a0Only a court sentence can solve the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime<\/span>,<\/span> Jennifer has managed to obtain a<\/span> marriage <\/span>annulment<\/span>. <\/span>However<\/span> there are still a number of obstacles pending regarding care and custody of her son. According to Jennifer, her children are afraid of her ex-husband.<\/span><\/p>\n

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