Reports of girls continuously being abused in their homes, schools and communities are not waning. If it is not about a girl child defiled by her stepdad, it is some uncharitable teacher or depraved man taking his part in ruining the lives of girls.
The amendment of the constitutional provision that recognises one as a child—from age 16 to 18—was billed to protect all children from all forms of abuse, among others.
Girls were particularly expected to get some special benefit from the law review especially when it comes to marriages since the new law meant they could not be married off at 16 as was possible before.
The Child Care, Justice and Protection Act also compels parents, guardians, the state and other stakeholders to ensure they provide the best form of care to children.
But with these beautiful pieces of legislation—which have also earned Malawi some rare praise on the international scene—the girl child continues being abused; defiled in places where she was supposed to find redemption.
Executive Director of Malawi Girl Guide Association (Magga), Mphatso Jimu, agrees that fighting for girls’ rights remains a problem because what they are told to do, say, at home and what is there in the laws are totally different.
She also rues some awareness messages which target girls even when it is clear that they are conflicting with other initiatives aimed at protecting them.
“For instance, at home, when a girl child reaches the age of, say, 12, she is told to stop playing with her fellow children who are a bit younger. She is told to start putting on a wrapper and she begins to feel that she is now grown up,” Jimu says.
She further observes that sometimes without any recourse to provisions in relevant laws that project girl children, some parents force them to attend initiation ceremonies where they are taught “things beyond their ages”.
These, according to the Magga ED, put girls in awkward positions where they are sometimes compelled to ‘respond’ to what society demands, rather than what they feel is right.
“This means that the girl is deprived of her right to closely associate with those within her age bracket. It also means that the girl is forced to be in the company of adults where it is easy to be abused.
“During initiation ceremonies, these girls are taught complex things including sex. As such, they begin to think that they can do it since they have been taught it,” Jimu carps.
Executive director of Eye of the Child, Maxwell Matewere, also agrees that despite several interventions by different stakeholders, girl children continue being abused in different places.
He has since called for strict reinforcement of laws that protect girl children.
“There should be strong deterrent punishments for all those who abuse girls. We will continue pushing for this because these children continue being defiled and violated even in their homes,” says Matewere.
He adds that while precautionary measures are always the best, it is still important to reach out to girls that have been abused so that they are supported for life beyond their misfortunes.
“We do work on rehabilitating girls that are abused so that they don’t look at themselves as condemned human beings. We remove them from places where they are abused to where they are safe,” says Matewere.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), girl children in Malawi are further at disadvantages because of things like early pregnancies and schools that are not friendly for their education.
The UN agency calls on different stakeholders including government to put in place measures that will ensure girl children have ultimate protection and enjoy their rights as any child would do.
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