Gender Based Violence report

In this report, Grace Nyenyezi Khombe reveals a form of sexual abuse that women are going through where their husbands are inserting objects in their private parts to determine if they have had sex with other men or not.

The revelations came at a time when Malawi and the world over was observing the 16 days of activism in 2013 in a bid to end gender based violence.

Our investigations show that women with low- education are victims of such ordeal because they are not empowered to make informed decision neither to report the matter to police and other Human rights bodies for them to be protect.

It has been also observed that such women are not aware of laws that could safeguard their rights such as a protection order.

It is also one form of abuse that women who have fallen victim do not feel comfortable to talk about due to cultural beliefs. This is why it often takes a long time, as observed in this report, for women to speak openly about this abuse.

As we hear in this report, gender activists, women groups and law enforcers believes empowering women to make informed decision will completely stop men from physically abuse their wives.

Women in Law of Southern Africa WILSA and Coalition of Women Living with HIV/Aids COWLA in Malawi are now empowering women to break the culture of silence. To be specific, COWLA has launched a project called TIOLOKE where they are providing sexual counselling to couples through trained married counsellors.

Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) used this information to sensitise fellow men on evils of gender based violence in its national tour during the 16 Days of Activism. This according to MEGEN Chairperson Mr Marcel Chisi helped worked as a case study on how men in Malawi are abusing women and girls.

Download : 18877_malawimediacontentgrace-khombe.doc