“STOP Child Abuse!” Malawi’s Children Demand

In pictures: UNICEF, Ministry and partners held a procession recently through the streets of Lilongwe and distributed campaign stickers to motorists. (Top picture) Hon. Kainja joined was part of campaigners.

Mary* is only 15 years old, but she works for more than 10 hours a day as a domestic servant. She misses being in school, “I wish I could go to school and complete my education.” Just a year ago, while in grade 6 studies, she lost her parents to HIV related illnesses. Mary was taken by an uncle who promised to care for her, but instead, she became the servant, working in the home and farm. From 5.00 am to 9.00 pm everyday, she moves from one chore to another in a mechanical and detached manner.

Mary is one of hundreds of children in Malawi who continue to face abuse, violence and exploitation from the very people who should be protecting them. In June, UNICEF and the Ministry of Women and Child Development launched a national campaign “Stop Child Abuse” to raise awareness and lobby for enactment of laws that will protect children.

Ms. Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative

Stop Child Abuse Campaign launched
“The main aim of the campaign is to break the silence around child abuse. Violence against children, especially sexual violence, is often shrouded in secrecy and this makes it hard for any action to be taken to STOP it. We must speak out, we have been too silent for too long, and the time is now to say STOP it. Enough is enough!” said Ms Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Malawi.

Campaign material branded powerfully in red demands society to STOP practices that are not only criminal, but also permanently scar children, emotional and physically, impeding their healthy growth.

The campaign will involve open discussions between policy makers, service providers, children, communities and media on issues such as child labour, sexual abuse, child trafficking, early marriages and harmful cultural practices that continue to deny children their rights to a healthy childhood.

Hon. Kate Kainja Kaluluma, Malawi’s Minister for Women and Child Development, strongly decried the increase in cases of child rape and sexual exploitation in the country. “We have failed our children, and if we do not act now, we will be failing the next generation as well. We must say ‘stop child abuse’ and mean it. What is most frightening is that the people who are abusing children don’t even know it. When you take a 15 year old girl from her home in the rural area, and bring her to work in your house as a domestic worker, or on the farm for more than 10 hours, that is child abuse!”

Abused by those who should protect them
At an event to mark the Day of the African Child in 2007, over 200 children from rural schools in Lilongwe marched to protest against violence and exploitation. At an audience with the Deputy Minister for Women and Child Development, Hon. Aaron Sangala, appealed to the government to make Malawi a safer place for children.

“How are we, children of Malawi, expected to thrive and excel in school when we continue to experience violence and abuse in the hands of the very same people who should be protecting us in school, at home and in the communities?” 16-year old Charles Kabera, a child parliamentarian expressed to the Deputy Minister.

Like thousands of children who have lost their parents to AIDS, Mary endures the long hours and mistreatment because they have nowhere to go. Ms Girma said that children by their very nature are vulnerable and orphans like Mary are particularly vulnerable to the violence of abuse, exploitation and neglect. “Cases of child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, in Malawi have been increasingly reported although hard data and reliable statistics are unavailable. The culture of silence at community and national levels means that the true scale of the problem is currently unknown.”

Child Protection in Malawi
Malawi ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1987. Under these conventions, the government has an obligation to respect, protect, facilitate and promote the fulfilment of the rights that are enshrined in these conventions. These instruments and conventions must be translated into concrete legislation, interventions and development programmes.

The Child Care Protection and Justice Bill, Civil Registration Bill and the Wills and Inheritance Bill are still pending in parliament. The campaign will mobilize leadership and seek firm commitment at policy level for the enactment of these bills and the convention to afford greater protection of orphans.

“The absence of a specific law on child trafficking is a serious loophole that undermines the global effort to stop child trafficking. Existing laws that address certain aspects of trafficking, such as kidnapping, rape or sexual exploitation, fall short of punishing perpetrators for the crime of trafficking itself,” says Ms Girma.

“Malawi has 4 million children living in poverty; at least 1.2 million children have lost one or both parents and another 1.4 million children are employed in hazardous child labour. We are failing these children if we don’t take action now, because we are denying them their right to realize their full potential because they are not in school,” Ms Girma adds.

* Mary is not the real name of the girl interviewed.

Issue 1 2007