Gender officer worried over early child marriage in Nsanje
Gender officer in Nsanje worried about early child marriage.
Nsanje, Malawi: Gender Officer for Nsanje Edison Njembe has expressed worry over escalating cases of early girl-child marriages in the district, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
In an interview on Monday, Njembe said gender-based violence (GBV) is affecting both males and females in Nsanje, but the most common form of GBV is forced marriages.
"Most young girls are forced into marriages because of poverty, as parents want to benefit from the payments that husbands make," he said.
Njembe also disclosed that another form of GBV is physical violence, where married people abuse each other.
"This is witnessed now by the rise of men reporting on GBVs, though the numbers are still relatively low," he said.
According to the officer, the rise in reporting is attributed to the government's efforts to increase awareness with assistance from different Non-State Actors (NSA) and development partners.
"At first, males were not reporting cases of GBVs for fear of being perceived as weak in society," said the officer.
Njembe was quick to reveal that the awareness has helped to break the culture and silence that have prevailed in the past, where domestic abuse was viewed as normal and part of marriage.
In 2022, Nsanje recorded over 3,100 cases of GBV, of which 94% were girls and women.