Last month, two major events around the prevention of violence against women in politics and elections happened. Interestingly, they both took place on the same day, Wednesday, and nearly simultaneously.
Police launched a campaign on the prevention of violence against women in elections at Likuni Boys’ Secondary School ground in Lilongwe, while on the other side of the Capital City, the NGO Gender Coordination Network, The Women’s Manifesto Movement and the African Women Leaders Network, among others, held a press briefing to condemn ‘all forms of violence perpetrated against women in politics and elections in Malawi’.
This exposes the extent to which cases of violence against women have become rampant in the run up to the September 2025 General Elections, which is now less than eight months away.
In a statement issued on the day, the NGO Gender Coordinating Network and its allies outlined some incidents of gender-based violence that women have experienced in their attempt to exercise their right to participate in politics in the country. The incidents, as reported by the media, include the shooting of a female Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member in Lilongwe; the assault of women dressed in Malawi Congress Party (MCP) regalia in Ndirande, Blantyre; the demeaning remarks against People’s Party president Joyce Banda in a clip that circulated on social media; and a dehumanising clip that attacked the Malawi Elec toral Commission (MEC) chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja.
As noted in the statement, the violence which is also being perpetrated through digital platforms, threatens the lives of the survivors and is symptomatic of a widespread crisis and of deeply ingrained violence and discrimination against women and girls in Malawi.
According to the United Nations, violence against women in political life refers to “any act of gender-based violence, or threat thereof, that is likely to cause physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering and is directed against a woman in political life solely because she is a woman, or that affects women disproportionately”. For purposes of this article, women in politics includes all women involved in political activities— from political candidates, to voters who may include women in various professions and even those that may not be professional.
Violence perpetrated against women in politics is a cause for concern because, as studies have shown, it is a mechanism of control over the access to spaces of political participation and representation. When it occurs, whether online or offline, in political institutions or on the street, in the community or within a household, it attacks the tenets of our democracy and undermines all efforts that the country has made towards gender equality, especially in the political sphere.
Take the attack on women in Ndirande, for example. Here were women, clad in their political cloth and minding their business as they walked on a street side. I am not sure they had intended to jump on a minibus and get to their destination on foot, but what was clear is that they were on their way to attend some political event.
Watching a clip of this unfortunate incident, it was clear that the women were helpless and had resigned to their fate. If it were not for some Good Samaritans, we could have been telling a different story. The impact of this unfortunate scenario on the victims, and perhaps women and girls that watched it unfold is far reaching. As a result of such violence, individual feelings of humiliation, powerlessness, insecurity, and consequences on personal health and well-being may arise.
This is not the democracy that Malawians fought hard to attain in the early 1990’s. In fact, democracy itself is rooted in the respect and upholding of human rights and freedoms, including those of association, expression and political participation. Why then, should some individuals think it is alright to deny other citizens their democratic rights and freedoms, let alone get away with it?
It is concerning that perpetrators of most of the incidents cited by the gender activists have not been held to account for their conduct. This is unacceptable, and it breeds a culture of impunity.
It is encouraging that the Police have stepped up to launch a campaign on raising awareness and dealing with violence against women, and that gender activists and CSOs have not tired in their efforts to curb the vice. Hopefully, these two groups—CSOs and Police, will find it necessary to collaborate, particularly on how they can enhance safety for women in politics as we approach elections. It is time we recognised the impact of violence against women in politics on the collective, and do everything it takes to ensure women fully exercise their rights to political participation.
It is concerning that perpetrators of most of the incidents cited by the gender activists have not been held to account for their conduct
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