United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is yet to launch violence against children and young women program in Lilongwe 25th March, at Mchinji community ground aimed at promoting the right and wellbeing of every child.
The revelations were made during the presentation of a survey on violence against children and young women. The presentation was made by Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, Centre for Social Research (CSR0, study co-authors conducted in 2013.
The study reveals that two out of every three Malawians experience violence in childhood, one in every five girls were sexually abused before they celebrate their 18th Birthday and nearly two out of every three boys suffered physical violence before the age of eighteen. The outcome means that the human rights violence is highly increasing hence the launch of ant-children violence campaign.
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) Patricia Kaliati, recommended that the research has come at a right time where violence has become a social norm. “A majority of boys for instance do not report the physical violence they encounter and suffer physical violence sometimes even sexual and emotional violence. This is so because they do not view it as problem or they thought it was their fault,” said Kaliati.
Kaliati further adds, now is the time to break the silence and end violence against children and women. The focus need to be placed on prevention and awareness raising on the cost and effects of violence and above all, addressing the harmful social norms that promote it like early marriages.
United Nation (UN) Secretary General’s special Representative Ms Marta Santos Pais highlight that violence against children leaves detrimental effects on the victims. “According to the report, children who experience violence are more likely to suffer from mental distress, indulge in smoking and alcohol abuse, contract Sexually Transmitted Infections (STLs) and engage in self-harming behaviors. The lack of studies on violence against children in Malawi has been a major barrier towards effective action to combat the problem,” she said.
Head of DFID Ms Jen Marshall, called on government and all stakeholders to fight against the perpetrators of child violence to build Malawi for better change. “I encourage the government to integrate the findings from the research into its overall policy agenda and build on this productive across-departmental collaboration. The elimination of all forms of violence against children must be a core indicator of national social development,” said Marshall.
Malawi to develop need to work together in ant-malpractice towards vulnerable people, for instance; reporting to authorities in Unlawful acts. Out of 300 Community victim Support Unit Lilongwe Police Unit victim support and Child Helpline and One-Stop Centers are in the least. The meeting was facilitated with funding from DFID, UNICEF-support initiative.
