MHRC dates council on sexual discrimination

Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on Monday engaged Blantyre District Council’s Gender Technical Working Group to equip members on how they can ably mitigate sex-based discrimination at work places and the community at large.

The engagement, according to MHRC principal gender and human rights officer Jamila Madukani, marked the start of Iceland-funded project called Strengthening Human Rights-based Intervention with a Focus on Sex-based Discrimination in Malawi.

She said district council officials are key in dealing with human rights issues such as sexual harassment because they directly interact with people at the local level.

Said Madukani: “The district council is the voice for so many areas such as the social welfare and gender offices who work directly with the communities.

“Most people do not know when their rights have been violated and that is why we want to equip them so that they can find legal redress when they have been sexually harassed.”

The council’s chief planning officer Pearson Mphangwe commended MHRC for the orientation, saying it has enlightened the Technical Working Group on several aspects, ranging from definitions of terminologies on what gender entails.

He said: “This will then help us to have a deep understanding on how to deal with sexual discrimination in all angles.

“As officers, we have to be aware that it is not possible to violate others’ rights in the name of human rights.”

The participants, who included magistrates, law enforcers and civil society organisations, agreed to strengthen the coordination among players in the rights-based approach so that people can report issues in time for the perpetrators to face the law.