Africa-Press – Malawi. Minister of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati has called on stakeholders to work together if the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) is to be won in the country.
Kaliati said this in Dedza on Friday when she officially launched this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. Kaliati said violence against women and girls is evil and inhumane; and everyone has a role to play to end the vice.
Kaliati further said the 16 Days of Activism campaign is an opportunity for government, civil society organisations, development partners, the private sector, religious leaders, faith leaders, community structures and all other to reflect and renew efforts towards ending gender-based violence in Malawi.
“It is however very worrisome and unfortunate that despite several efforts and decades of commemorating the 16 Days of Activism, incidences of gender-based violence and violence against women and girls continues to rise,” Kaliati said.
Country Director for Break Free, Judith Pangani, said the 16 Days of Activism is crucial in the fight against gender-based violence in the county. She said Break Free — a consortium of three organisations namely Fawema, Plan Malawi and Southern Africa Aids Trust — is implementing a five-year programme aimed at fighting child marriages and teenage pregnancies in the country.
Pangani said as key stakeholders of the government, they work to make sure that everyone is taking a leading role in fighting gender-based violence. “We are targeting young people from 10 to 24 years old, especially girls who are vulnerable to teen pregnancies and gender-based violence,” said Pangani.
She said Malawi is not doing well in the fight against GBV despite various interventions being carried out. According to data from the Malawi Police Service Victim Support Units, GBV cases have risen from 13,002 cases from January to September in 2021 to 15, 178 within the same period in 2022. The theme for this year campaign is ‘Unite! Activism to End Gender Based Violence in Malawi’.
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