Escom in gender violence fight

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has embarked on a campaign against gender based violence (GBV), noting the vice affects workers’ productivity.

The company has since introduced a gender workplace policy and is now sensitising workers to the evils of the vice.

Speaking during a GBV open day meeting that the company held in Mzuzu yesterday, Escom regional manager (North) Youngie Chewele said Escom is concerned that GBV cases are on the rise in the country and that many victims suffer in silence.

He said Escom does not want to be left behind in the fight against GBV in the workplace.

Chewele feared that if the vice is tolerated, the company and the public will suffer as services are compromised.

“We also have forms that the workers can fill in to report the violence,” he said, urging workers to report GBV.

In her remarks, Northern Region Police Victim Support Unit coordinator Thoko Mkwezalamba said police have also intensified the campaign against GBV.

She said more people are now reporting the vice to police, which has seen number of reported cases rise from 1 520 in 2016 to 2 140 in 2017. n