A woman commentator has said if the country is to excel in
its fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) government and its stakeholders
must consider championing economic independence among women.
An official from women's forum in Karonga Heri Shola said this on the sidelines that a police
officer has been keeping a girl 21 hostage for over a year after promising her
marriage.
“All these challenges that we are grappling with in terms of
men ill treating women it is because custom has made our women believe that men
are their sole sources of gratification of life,” said Shola.
“As such Malawian women need mentoring and empowerment in
order for them to believe that they can stand on their own economically should they work hard and have self esteem,
government and its partners should pave hat way for them,” she advised.
Shola said for a long time efforts to combat violations
against women’s rights have yielded minimal results because some critical
issues promoting the vice are overlooked.
“Concerns have been raised that women do not come out in the
open to report matters on GBV but the common experience has been that they fear
for the conviction of their benefactors and the issue of this young lady who
was being locked in the house by a policeman points to the same reasons,” Shola
explained.
Without going into details Shola said I is disappointing of
late to note that police officers who are supposed to help defend people’s
rights have turned to be oppressors.
Corroborating with Shola Atupele Mwalweni from the department
of Gender and Social Welfare in Karonga said women with weak economic muscle
are subject to abuse because men capitalize on their vulnerability.
“It is difficult for a woman who does not have any means of
sustaining herself to defend herself in times when she is facing abuse because she
has a number of considerations in place such as children and family members,”
she explained.
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