Maltese woman victim of racial abuse in Australia
A Maltese woman who has lived in Australia for the past 50 years has been the victim of racial abuse and a physical assault, Australia-based newspaper The Courier reported yesterday.
The Australian paper sat down with Mary Ripard after images of her being assaulted at a parade surfaced on the social media.
The post, which has since been taken down, spoke out about her horrible experience after a man grabbed her arm, twisted it and threatened to break it. In addition to this, she said, she was also called a “wog”, a derogatory term for persons of Greek, Italian, Maltese and Lebanese descent.
The incident happened while Mrs Ripard was attending the Ballarat Begonia Festival parade last Monday. She went to watch her daughter and grandchild who were taking part in the procession.
As Mrs Ripard was attempting to make room for a child behind her to be able to view the spectacle, a man next to her carried out the assault. Speaking to The Courier she said that the derogatory term was very offensive and that she had spent the rest of the night wondering why he would do that to her.
Mrs Ripard said she freed herself from the man’s grip only after giving him a kick to the knee. A friend who was stood across the parade managed to snap shots of the incident as it unfolded, however could not reach her friend as the parade had already started and she was therefore unable to cross.
Mrs Ripard said that she was never treated in such a manner before.
Ironically, the parade was celebrating multicultural inclusiveness.