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The death
of a 16-year-old girl following rape by a Kabaza (motorcycle taxi) operator, as
reported by The Daily Times on February 5, 2024, calls for deep reflection and
decisive action on Malawi's outdated abortion laws and how we are addressing
gender-based violence.
Following
the brutal rape, she became pregnant. She was not ready to keep the forced
pregnancy, and after several failed attempts to get medical assistance, she
died tragically following an unsafe abortion.
Her
death is a sad tale of retaining archaic laws enacted in 1930 by colonialists
and of Malawi's failure to reform its abortion law. If the same incident
happened in neighbouring Zambia, Mozambique or Zimbabwe, the girl would have
been alive today because all these countries legally allow survivors of rape to
access safe abortion.
There are
several injustices at play in this incident, including the gravity of sexual
violence that led to the unwanted pregnancy. The girl was raped. The Penal Code
in Malawi lists rape under "Offences against morality" (chapter XV)
with the following punishment: "Any person who commits the offence of rape
shall be liable to be punished with death or with imprisonment for life."
Whilst
I do not condone the death penalty, it is clear that the act of rape is a
serious crime, at least in theory.
But
what happens in practice?
Violence
against women and girls in Malawi is a lived reality, and sexual violence is no
exception.
One
national survey conducted as far back as 2013 indicated that sexual, physical
and emotional violence against children is prevalent in Malawi, and, for many
girls, their first sexual encounter is unwanted.
Violence
is exacerbated by gender biases, norms and attitudes whereby violence is
socially and culturally legitimised. Sexual violence is further complicated
when being 'male' means dominance and control, whilst being 'female' comes with
the expectation that one should be submissive and not say no to sex.
Many
of our cultural practices and rites of passage perpetuate these power
imbalances and gender inequalities. Despite the law prohibiting marriage before
18, forced child marriages are pervasive. And despite the provisions in the
penal code, there seems to be ambiguity around the meaning and severity of
sexual violence. We do not know whether the Kabaza operator ever faced justice
for the crime he committed - the rape of a young woman, which led directly to
her death by unsafe abortion.
In
November 2023, we commemorated the annual 16 days of activism against
gender-based violence under the theme "UNITE! Invest to prevent violence
against women and girls", yet incidents of gender-based violence are
stubbornly persistent.
How are
we doing as a country to prevent and address violence against women and girls?
The second injustice is that even though the law allows
pregnant women whose lives are at risk to terminate their pregnancy, they are
often denied access to safe abortion. Women and girls who become pregnant after
rape and in desperate need of help, are turned away from health facilities as
this case shows - and often there is nowhere else for the traumatized girls and
women to turn. Pregnancy is risky, more especially child pregnancies and
abortion-related complications are a significant contributor to maternal
deaths. Had the 16-year-old girl been able to access a safe abortion, which
many of Malawi's health workers can legally perform, she would have lived.
The
current abortion law, a remnant from pre-colonial days, is ambiguous. As a
result of this ambiguity, it is easier for a health worker to deny the service
than to risk criminal sanction by performing a safe abortion to save a pregnant
woman's life. So, those seeking lifesaving abortions, including girls, are
tragically told that it is against the law and turned away.
One
study undertaken by the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) explored
the experiences of child rape survivors. The findings presented to the Ministry
of Health in 2022 showed that survivors face embarrassment, fear, blame, and
stigma. Rape and subsequent pregnancies crush girls' dreams and abruptly end
education with lifelong consequences. Some girls become suicidal. The few who
seek justice are allegedly mocked by police, and face lengthy court delays,
while the rapists are often set free with the risk that they could commit
further crimes.
Reading the story of a needless and preventable death, we
must ask ourselves, "What if that was me, my friend, my wife, my daughter,
my niece, my cousin?". We need to have these tricky, uncomfortable, and
unsettling conversations with sons, daughters, parents, uncles, and aunts; with
friends; among faith communities; at school; in the media; and parliament. Open
conversations may help address and overcome the taboo, stigma and blame
associated with sexually related violations, including opposition when it comes
to abortion.
It is
time to be bold and to start tackling, head-on, these injustices so that we can
do away with the traumatic, devastating, and harmful crimes of sexual violence
and other criminal acts perpetrated against women and girls. We need to unravel
the layers of hypocrisy and fear surrounding abortion and allow women and girls
the right to defend and choose what happens to their bodies.
In
2021, Parliamentary Health Committee Chairperson Dr Matthews Ngwale
courageously pursued a private members route to discuss the Termination of
Pregnancy (TOP) Bill. If MPs had supported this TOP Bill motion, which could
have led to abortion law reform, the girl would have been alive today.
How
many more injustices will it take for concrete action and urgent reforms?
Source: by
By Wina T. Sangala
Ms Wina T. Sangala is a sexual and reproductive
health and rights champion based in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe and has
written this opinion in her personal capacity.