NGO empowers girls to fight sexual abuse

Art Global Health Organisation Africa project assistant Caroline Luka says girls and young women in Phalombe District should be involved in finding solutions to solve their problems, including sexual abuse.

The organisation is teaching the youth to use arts such as music and drama to address issues infringing on their rights.

Speaking on Monday during a community meeting at Traditional Authority (T/A) Mkhumba, Luka said it was critical for adolescent girls and young women to be part of solutions for gender-based violence (GBV)-related challenges.

She said: “In this area, girls are complaining about forced marriages and other sexual abuses.

“So, we are teaching the girls to use human-centered designs and participatory arts to address the same.”

One of the girls, Maurine Dymon, said she was sad to see many girls with promising future in education getting married.

“I will take part in designing and implementing long-term solutions to the challenges,” she said.

Phalombe district social welfare officer Isaac Lakudzala said in 2021 his office registered 429 early marriages, but has since terminated 232 of them.

“We are working hard to end early marriages and teenage pregnancies resulting from GBV,” he said.

T/A Mkhumba said she was concerned with teen pregnancies which force girls out of school.

The organisation is implementing Make Art for Women’s Activism  in collaboration with community-based organisations in Malawi.

Art for Global Health Africa is implementing Make Art for Women’s Activism project in five districts, namely Phalombe, Mulanje, Chiradzulu, Chikwawa and Blantyre.