Standing up against sexual abuse at workplace

For the past 10 years, Maureen Phiri has faced numerous sexual abuses, but chose to remain silent to save herself from the face of discrimination.

Not anymore. The 23 year-old has stood up to fight back. She is a survivor of both rape and molestation at the workplace and, she says in all cases, the perpetrators went scot-free.

Phiri says she now wants to talk about it to protect both girls and women from sexual abuses at home and  the workplace.

“I have been abused since I was a teenager,” she explains. “First, I was 12. I was abused by a man who lived with us in the house. It was horror and I don’t even want to think about it.”

Phiri is hurt because she was hurt by a man she respected as a father and trusted him so much.

“I realised later that the abuses were punishable and so I decided to take the issue to court, but it was too late because a year had gone. The police said my evidence would be difficult to present in court after such a period,” she explains.

Growing up as a girl increased her vulnerability, particularly at the workplace. She says the next escapade was at work with her workmate. She was working for one local non-governmental organisation.

“It happened twice. The first was right here in Malawi. The second time we were outside Malawi for duties and he influenced me to sleep with him. I told my close friends to get help, but he survived it,” she recalls.

Phiri says she has experienced many others and living with  memories of abuse is what haunts her daily life. This is the motivation behind her campaign to share her story with others. She is working as a volunteer with youth organisations where she tells her story.

“I can no longer live with it. I will continue talking about it and I am encouraging fellow women out there who suffered sexual violence to come forward and speak up,” advocates Phiri.

Her story mirrors the situation on the ground. A woman’s body is now part of the factors that influence her success at the many workplaces. Offers at workplace are a bait to abuse women.

Action Aid and Malawi Congress of Trade Union (MCTU) say sexual abuse at the workplace is increasing at an alarming rate.

Statistics show the abuses are also increasing outside the workplace. So far, there is no data for sexual abuse at the workplace, but the 2015 Malawi Demographic  and Heath Survey (MDHS) indicates that 41 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 are victims of sexual violence. The report further says 96 percent of these abuses are perpetrated by men.

These figures are a stain on Malawi’s efforts to end sexual violence and gender inequality as enshrined in the global goals, particularly Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goal number III (good health and well being), goal Five (reduced inequalities) and goal Eight(decent work and economic growth), which together ensure there are equal opportunities for everyone to thrive. Phiri’s story tells us of how sexual abuse has frustrated her success at the workplace.

Tired of these abuses, women have started to stand up to protect their rights. There is more hope in a task force of professional women jointly coordinated by Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Malawi MCTU, NGO-Gender  Coordination Network,  the Judiciary and Malawi Police, to protect women from sexual violence at workplaces.

The women are running a campaign called Ndiulula which encourages women to come forward and speak up against any sexual abuse at workplaces. The campaign  was launched on Friday as Malawi started observing 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

It is a digital-driven approach that will help victims to use social networks to report abuses and get help.

Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Principal Secretary Esmie Kainja says what is worrisome is that perpetrators of sexual abuses are not facing the law.

“The situation is worse because most victims choose to live with the abuses for fear of losing their jobs,” she says. “Ndiulula campaign provides one of the best platforms to unearth various forms of abuses at the workplace.”

MCTU deputy director for gender coordination and education Jesse Ching’oma notes that sexual abuses at the workplace are increasing because of ignorance.

“Due to lack of awareness on issues of rights at the workplace, most employees do not know that to be employed is one’s right,” she explains. “Most women feel that to be employed is a favour and they have to give in to pressures around them such as carpet interviews as well as sexual harassment.”

Ching’oma says through the Ndiulula campaign, they are trying to create awareness that to be employed is a right and that sexual abuse at the workplace is unethical and should be reported forthwith.

As everyone goes on the streets in support of Ndiulula and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaigns in few weeks time, Phiri’s face will only wear a smile the day she will see justice prevailing against the perpetrators. n