Communities demand mobile courts in Nkhatabay
Rocked with numbers of unresolved Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases being reported in Traditional Authority (TA) Kabunduli in Nkhatabay district, communities in the area are demanding mobile courts.
Jessie Chiuza, a Child Protection Worker (CPW) in the area, said mobile courts are effective in the fight against gender based violence because most of the times cases are not handled by law enforcers who always complain about transportation problems.
“Mobile courts are the only solution to fight against GBV in our area. Imagine out of 145 gender based violence cases which have been reported from May 2021 to May 2022, only five cases have been taken care of by the Nkhatabay Magistrate Court and nobody knows what happened with the remaining 140 case,” said Chiuza.
Chiuza added that many people in the area are reporting gender based violence cases to Child Protection Workers since the inception of Wukani End Violence against Women and Girls project by Purple Innovation for Women and Girls (PIWG).
Chairperson of Nkhatabay Gender Technical Working Group (GTWG), Mercy Manda, hailed the project for the support towards victims of GBV citing an example of her own daughter who now has a child which she is raising.
“My daughter is one of the survivors of gender based violence. She was sexually abused and got pregnant before she sat for her JCE exams. However, I encouraged her to go on with school until she delivered and now she is in Form three,” explained Manda.
Manda added that the daughter took heed of her advice and went on with her education after delivery. The baby is 10 months old now. She however, of the view that mobile courts can really help in fighting against gender based violence.
Commenting on the matter, Executive Director for PIWG, Patricia Mtungila, said they are looking forward to finding necessary initiatives which can help in achieving the will of the communities in the area by providing mobile courts in order to curb gender based violence.
“We have proposed resources in order to fulfill the will of the community to have mobile courts so that all perpetrators are dealt in a constitutional manner and cases should not end in vain,” said Mtungila.
PIWG is implementing a project aimed at curbing gender based violence in Mzimba and Nkhatabay under a two year Wukani End Violence against Girls Project with support from the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund and Spotlight Initiative through UN Women in Malawi.
This is great