Malawi’s Supreme Court has ordered the country’s police service to pay compensation to 18 women allegedly raped by police officers. The alleged rape occurred during post-election violence in the country two years ago.
The women will be awarded between 4m Malawian kwacha ($5,027) and 10m kwacha ($12,569), according to the Supreme Court.
Rights groups say the decision represents a milestone development in women’s rights in the country. However, no police officers have been charged over the incident.
2019 Post-election violence police
Police officers were deployed to a township in the capital, Lilongwe to curb the violence that followed elections in 2019. Reports at the time indicated that security personnel used teargas and attacked the public to quell the public disturbances.
However, later that year, the NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) documented accounts from women and girls from the area who said they had been sexually assaulted by officers.
Little to no action was taken until last year, the Women Lawyers Association of Malawi filed a legal complaint against the police over failure to take action against officers accused of the attacks.
Aside the compensation, the Supreme Court has also ordered the police to investigate the officers named in the allegations. Richard Chimwendo Banda, Minister of homeland security, told reporters that implicated officers would appear before an independent police commission. In addition he said the ministry would not appeal against the court’s decision.
Addressing the Supreme Court’s verdict, Immaculate Maluza, President of the Women Lawyers Association, said the compensation would help the women move on from a “traumatic experience.”
“This is progress and this is really good news. In terms of the amount, we’ve talked to the women and we’re waiting for feedback from them in terms of how they feel about the ruling.
“We intend to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion. We’ve clear instructions and will continue to represent the women so that no other woman suffers such indignity. And abuse from public officials that are trusted with safety and security in the country.”
President of the Women Lawyers Association, Immaculate Maluza
WHO Study raped
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes a few days after the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on sexual or physical violence of women. raped
Based on the study, WHO estimates between 736 million and 852 million women, aged 15 and above will experience some form of sexual or physical violence in their lifetime.
The Director-General of the organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement intimated that violence against women has to be fought “with deep-rooted and sustained efforts.”
“Violence against women is endemic in every country and culture causing harm to millions of women and their families, and has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But unlike Covid-19, violence against women cannot be stopped with a vaccine. We can only fight it with deep-rooted and sustained efforts by governments, communities and individuals. To change harmful attitudes, improve access to opportunities and services for women and girls. And foster healthy and mutually respectful relationships.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Dr Claudia García-Moreno, who leads the WHO’s work on violence against women, also said the report should be a “wake-up call” to governments about the urgency of the situation.
“There’s an urgent need to reduce stigma around this issue. Therefore, train health professionals to interview survivors with compassion, and dismantle the foundations of gender inequality. Starting by making schools safe places, because in many countries and settings, unfortunately they are not.”
Dr Claudia García-Moreno
The study takes into account domestic violence reports published in 161 countries between 2000 and 2018. However, It does not reflect the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. raped
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