Mzuzu Child Justice Court has partnered with civil society organisations (CSOs) to conduct sessions in rural communities where people fail to take matters to Mzuzu due to high travel costs.
In an interview on the sidelines of the commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child at Njuyu in Mzimba on Saturday, magistrate George Major Mbewe of Mzuzu Child Justice Court said the court has already been to Mpherembe, Lusangazi and Kafukule in Mzimba as well as Kavuzi in Nkhata Bay.
He noted that there are many cases of girl child abuse in rural communities due to ignorance of the law and some cultural practices which portray the boy child as superior to the girl child.
“When the court has been moved, it will sit where the crime has been committed. All the due processes have to be followed for that to happen,” he said.
Mbewe admitted that the court does not have the resources to conduct and sustain the session, hence the partnership with organisations such as Plan Malawi, Church and Society of the Livingstonia CCAP Synod and Centre for Child Rights.
Plan Malawi Mzuzu community development facilitator Grace Mukula said taking the court to rural areas is one way of ensuring that people in rural areas are made aware of the laws governing the protection and promotion of the rights of the girl child. n
