Malawi women protest against sexual violence in capital

Dozens of women marched in the streets of Malawi’s capital Lilongwe on Monday to protest against sexual violence, following a string of alleged police assaults on women last year. 

Approximately 90 protestors made their way through the streets in silence to mark ‘She Decides Day’ - a global moment launched in 2017 after US aid was barred from organisations that talk about abortion. 

The protests come on the back of a rise in feminist activism across Malawi. Last year a number of women and girls accused police officers of sexually assaulting them during the violence that followed May’s disputed presidential election.

Malawi’s Women Lawyers Association has filed an application for judicial review, saying that a “failure to investigate promptly and take action against pepetrartors violates the women’s constitutional rights”. 

Police spokesman James Kadadzera said that law enforcement were investigating complaints from 17 women and that “everybody should be assured that we are doing all we can to make sure we finalise the investigations”. 

Rape is widespread in Malawi but rarely reported, owing to stigma, lack of access to the justice system, and cultural normalisation of sexual assault. 

Photo: Reuters