Report abuses, Wolrec advises Nsanje women
Women’s Legal Resources Centre (Wolrec) Nsanje project officer Patrick Gavin has advised women who are living in camps due to disasters to report any abuse they face.
He made the appeal in the district on Tuesday during a sensitisation meeting funded by UN Women.
Gavin said his organisation carried out the campaign because most women do not report abuses.
“During disaster, especially when people were in camps, women experience a lot of abuses, including sexual harassment.
“However, they remain silent. So, as Worlec, we intend to build knowledge gap so that women should be able to stand up and report any abuse they experience,” he said.
Nsanje Police community policing and victim support coordinator Rex Mulawu said review of the cases recorded shows that young women aged between 12 and 15 are dominating gender-related cases in the district.
He advised traditional leaders as well as communities to stop forcing children to marry when they are young.
Mulawu encouraged parents and community leaders who attended the meeting to send their children to school.
“What should be done is to join hands by ensuring that young ladies are going to school and get educated.
“This will help in addressing issues of abuses among the women and also achieve effective development in their respective areas,” he said.
Group village head Chapinga thanked Wolrec for the initiative, saying it will help in addressing issues affecting women in the area as well as the whole district. Wolrec is conducting sensitisation campaigns in Nsanje targeting people that were displaced by flood in March this year.
