Evangelical Association of Malawi has intensified the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) in Karonga.
On Monday, the association oriented members of the clergy, police officers, the youth, village development committee and mother group leaders from Senior Chief Mwakaboko on GBV.
Speaking at Iponga Teachers Development Centre during the orientation, the association’s project leader Dumisani Nungu challenged the participants to document and follow up on GBV cases.
“We urge traditional leaders to end cultural practices that fuel GBV in their areas,” he said.
Iponga Mother Group chairperson Adolisa Mwangonde and Shalom Ministries chairperson Linda Mwafulirwa said the workshop equipped them with skills to handle GBV cases.
“The workshop has come at the right time when more women are facing GBV in Traditional Authority Mwakaboko,” said Mwangonde.
She also said child marriages and teenage pregnancies have risen in the area between March and August. She blamed the school closure for the rise in GBV cases.
Karonga district assistant gender officer Robert Nyambose said the area has registered 56 sexual, 19 physical, 19 emotional and 17 economical abuses and seven cases of defilement in the past two months.
In a separate interview, Karonga district social welfare officer Peggie Gondwe commended EAM for the support, saying lack of resources in her office deters them from conducting interactive meetings with various stakeholders to enhance capacity on how to deal with GBV.
She has since appealed for support from partners to fight GBV in the district.
The association is implementing a four-year Timazge Nkhanza Project in the district with funding from Norwegian Church Aid.
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