Rising GBV cases in Nsanje camps worry NGOs
Non–Governmental Organisation–Gender Coordinating Network (NGO–GCN) has bemoaned rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in some camps sheltering Cyclone Freddy survivors in Nsanje District.
In an interview on Thursday at Bangula Evacuation Camp holding 30 135 people, NGO–GCN member Caroline Mvalo said it is pathetic that GBV cases are rampant in all the camps they have visited.
She said: “For instance, at Bangula camp two men have divorced their wives because they were not willing to have sex with them. It is sad that children of the two broken marriages will be suffering because of something the men could have avoided.”
Mvalo said it had to take camp management at Nthole camp in Senior Chief Malemia to erect a tent to save a marriage after a husband threatened to end it if he did not have sex with his wife on that day.
“This is unacceptable. But I am glad that people are reporting GBV cases to camp management committees, which are resolving them accordingly.”
Another NGO–GCN member Wells Munthali said equally worrying were cases of defilement in camps, which have landed some men in prison.
Bangula Evacuation Camp chairperson Stella Davie attributed the rising of GBV cases to insufficient family tents.
She said: “The situation is forcing some men to go out and have sex with prostitutes, which puts them at risk of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV and Aids.
“It is our appeal that in times of disasters such as Cyclone Freddy, those that offer relief items should not ignore the need for family tents for married people to continue enjoying their conjugal rights.”
NGO–GCN is implementing a three-months project dubbed ‘Addressing the Gender Challenges in Emergency Preparedness and Response – Recovery in Cyclone Freddy affected areas’ in Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mulanje, Phalombe, Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Zomba and Machinga districts from June to August, 2023 with funding from Unicef.
