Do not withdraw GBV cases—minister
Women in the country have been challenged not to withdraw cases of gender-based violence (GBV), saying the trend defeats efforts to curb the vice.
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati said this on Tuesday at Chikomwe Primary School in Traditional Authority (T/A) Chowe in Mangochi at the launch of Girls and Women Empowerment (Gewe) ‘Zimachitika Radio Drama Series’.
She said the fight to uproot GBV is being compromised because women who are the main victims, usually withdraw cases against their husbands before courts make determinations.
“It is disheartening to note that dependent women opt to discontinue cases against abusive spouses as they rely on the same husbands,” said Kaliati.
She underlined that although poverty and economic dependence are major stumbling blocks in efforts to combat GBV in Malawi, there is need for vigilance on the part of the women to report the abuses to relevant authorities to halt it.
“As women, we need to gather courage whenever we are abused and report perpetrators to police to curb GBV and related crimes,” she said.
Kaliati said government is committed to embarking on initiatives to empower women with resources and credit facilities to improve their livelihood.
With funding from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Gewe—Zimachitika Radio Drama Series will be produced by the Story Workshop and will be broadcast on 14 radio stations in Malawi, including MBC Radio One and Two, Zodiak Broadcasting Station,Transworld Radio, Blantyre Synod and Radio Maria, among others. The radio drama series will teach people evils of GBV and sexual reproductive health and rights, highlight women empowerment skills and encourage women to report GBV.
Here we go again Mrs Big Mouth Kaliati……………… the honourable minister should know by now that 99.9% of the women who withdraw their GBV cases are those that are financially handicapped.
These women are not paranoid, The problem is, these women know that if they leave the men who are abusing them, they would not be able to sustain their livelihoods on their own wherever they may go.
So what is needed Mrs Kaliati and all of us, is to make sure that the girl child goes to school so that they can look after themselves in the future.
And for those women to whom it is too late to go back to school, we need to make them financially independent, teach them some business skills and help them get loans to start up some small businesses. Stop abusing them with your K50 notes to dance at your political rallies.
If we can make these women financially independent, we will see that over time there will be less and less women withdrawing their GBV cases. Actually you will also notice that the GBV cases will drop becoz some men abuse those women taking advantage of the fact that they have nowhere to go.