Nice, law commission in child protection drive

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ational Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust in collaboration with the Malawi Law Commission has engaged learners and school structures in 20 primary schools in Chikwawa District in child-related laws.

The initiative follows Violence Against Children and Young Women in Malawi Survey report which indicates that two out of three Malawians experience violence in their childhood.

The statistics also show that one in five girls and one in seven boys are sexually abused before 18 while 40 percent of girls and 64 percent of boys suffer physical abuse during childhood.

In an interview on Monday, Malawi Law Commission chief civic education officer Gills Kalibwe Msiska said they wanted to enable school structures which comprise mother groups, parents and teachers association, school management committees as well as traditional and faith leaders to protect and prevent violence against children.

“The structures have assured us that they will protect the children,” he said.

Nice Chikwawa district civic education officer Kondwani Malunga said during discussions with the structures, it transpired that there is a need to do more to improve the relationship between parents and children.

He said the gap between parents and their children affects growth of children in terms of how they conduct themselves.

“We encouraged them to have a good relationship with their children because it is important in the fight against violence against children,” said Malunga.

He said they established that defilement, corporal punishment in schools and fights among learners were common cases of violence children were facing. He added that some parents beat and deny their children food at home.

Chikwawa district education inspector Emmanuel Rice commended Nice and Malawi Law Commission for the initiative.

The initiative was supported by Unicef.