Men abused by wives in Mangochi

Scores of men in Group Village Head Mpita in Traditional Authority (T/A) Katuli’s area in Mangochi last week plucked up courage to admit they have or know someone who has suffered abuse at the hands of their wives.

The event was an open-day by Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco) at Mpita 2 Primary School which was organised to raise awareness on, among others, gender-based violence, education and health in order to build vigilant communities.

One of the men, Adam Jawadi, 25, from Matola Village testified that men in the area are facing abuses from their wives.

He claimed to have knowledge of a man who faced abuse from his wife last year.

“The whole issue boiled down to jealousy. His wife pulled his private parts as one way of preventing him from taking a second wife. He fainted and after gaining consciousness, he divorced her there and then, but it was never reported to police,” explained Jawadi, who is married and has three children.

Another man, who did not want to be mentioned, said men seldom report cases of spousal abuse to authorities and prefer to suffer in silence, a situation which some women take advantage of.

An official from Mangochi Police victim support unit, Tumalire Kamtweya, encouraged everyone to report to police incidences of gender-based violence, as it has the effect of tearing families apart.

On her part, Yoneco field officer for Tithandizane Helpline, Mercy Makondetsa, outlined her organisation’s efforts aimed to address issues affecting people in rural communities.

“We will continue coming up with programmes that would teach people in the communities on the rights they have and how to report when they are abused,” she outlined.n