Formal justice institutions in the country are deemed alien and inaccessible to the majority especially vulnerable populations like women.
This phenomenon is as a result of some prevalent challenges such as corruption, lack of awareness, high legal costs, abuse of authority, and court delays that limit access to the justice system.
However, a new report by the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has revealed some cultural norms and practices also disproportionately hinder women’s ability to access justice.
The report, dated August 2025, indicates women, especially in the Northern Region, are discouraged from taking up their matters to court for fear of rejection in society, and this is common among victims of gender-based violence.
The commission produced the report following a public inquiry it conducted into access to justice in Malawi, focusing on the challenges that affect the efficiency, fairness, and inclusiveness of the justice system.
According to the report, MHRC conducted the inquiry from October 2024 to March 2025 in pursuant of its constitutional and statutory mandates, and the public hearings took place in Mangochi, Lilongwe, and Mzimba.
During its inquiry, culture was cited as a significant barrier to accessing justice, particularly for women in patriarchal societies, such as the Northern Region where women are raised in a culture of silence and are not expected to question decisions made by their husbands.
According to the findings, these discourage women from taking up their matters to court for fear of rejection in society.
“When they speak out particularly on issues of gender-based violence or land rights, they are often labelled as troublemakers. This discourages others from reporting violations and perpetuates a cycle of silence and suffering. As a result, the majority of women fail to access justice.
“Whilst Malawi has progressive laws promoting gender equality, including the Gender Equality Act, continued application of discriminatory practices is indicative of ungendered informal justice systems and a lack of enforcement of laws and policies, particularly in aiding justice,” reads part of the report.
MHRC director for civil and political rights Peter Chisi explained in an interview during engagement with the participants it came out strongly that apart from known factors there are some invisible factors to accessing justice.
“Some women, especially in Mzimba, revealed that cultural and village set up do not favour them to the extent that taking a family matter to the chief or court is seen as being disrespectful to the husband’s family.
“So women do not have access to justice not because of costs but they are afraid of retributions that follow once they take their husbands to a judicial process,” he explained.
The inquiry further revealed the informal justice system in some cases is more expensive than formal court processes and may compromise the fairness of judgments and access to justice because traditional leaders demand payment in the form of livestock, such as goats or chickens, as a requirement for them to hear cases.
“So these are some of the bottlenecks in the justice system where in our view when we were conducting the public inquiry we realised we can focus on the laws and other issues but we shouldn’t forget women empowerment,” he said.
Women Lawyers Association of Malawi (WLA) executive director Golda Rapozo said the inquiry findings represent the reality of how women grapple with access to justice in the country.
She said most women fail to initiate court proceedings for fear of what their families and societies would think about them.
“When we are conducting our legal clinics they come and explain all sorts of legal challenges they are facing but they tell us not to take any action because they are afraid of the repercussions to follow. It’s unfortunate but this is the reality most women are facing in our society,” she said.
Rapozo said WLA was conducting legal clinics in almost 18 districts to ensure women are aware of their rights and where to go when faced with legal issues.
Senior chief Chikumbu of Mulanje while agreeing that culture was a significant barrier formal justice defended the traditional courts for providing option to the women.
She said while traditional courts have limitations they have proved to be accommodative for women.
“Most users of our courts are women. But you know we have limits our hands are tied up so when we refer their cases to formal courts most women just drop them. However, some knowledgeable women still pursue their cases,” explained Chikumbu.
