Be the Change you wsh to see

PRESS RELEASE  BY ANPPCAN MALAWI                                                                                                    20^th November 2007

ACTION AGAINST FEMICIDE/CHILD KILLINGS – 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM

The Communities are expressing their concern over the numerous recent reports of gang rapes/ defilements of women and young girls leading to death mainly of females. The brutal rapes /defilements of women and girls as per attached scanned newspaper reports among many unreported ones recently including severing of boys and men private parts.

A 6 year old girl in hospital (see attached articles) just a few days before dying just to let the world know of these barbaric acts, she was all wired up, ears and head smashed, reproductive canal it was reportedly all mashed up, they tried to take her to a theatre despite the multiple head injuries, but she was sent back, and one medical worker who wanted to remain anonymous tipped us that the little girl’s uterus was taken out by the assailant. What a shame!

2 Men in Mwanza at a Kachasu drinking place had to take advantage of the absence of the mother of a 4 year old girl by defiling the girl by strangling her by the neck and beating her and thereafter put her in a sack thinking she was dead. These men have been apprehended by the Mwanza Police.

A girl aged 6 was gang raped by unknown people in Manasseh Township in the city of Blantyre. The girl was sent to buy Mandazi at about 5 pm and she was found in the morning in a bath of blood. She died after 3 days later at Queens Elizabeth Central Hospital. The culprits are still at large.

A 32 year old man in Salima (Newspaper Article attached) defiled a girl aged 12 an orphan, a daughter to her late in-law. The man took advantage of the young girl just because she was orphaned and was staying in his house. These young orphaned girls need to be protected by the state and the community at large.

The Lecturer’s dead body was found exhumed with no private body parts in Balaka and also some people were caught in Mozambique with human private parts heading to Malawi where they claimed they had readily available markets.

 People in TA Chigaru in Blantyre are sleeping outside their houses for fear of Blood Suckers who has terrorised the area.

A 69 year old man in Nkhatabay defiled a 9 year old girl, and the man has been apprehended by the Police in the district.

In Mzimba an Ex-Policeman aged 61 defiled his grand daughter aged 9. These inhuman cases of defilement are almost at each and every corner of Malawi and the targets are children of between one and 12 years.

 For boy child the fate is different, he has his private parts chopped and left strangling for his life or he is left killed. A frican Net Work for Protection an prevetion of Child Abuse and Neglect Malawi chapter as a human rights organisation is concerned with this sort of scenario and would like to request well wishers within and outside Malawi to find a means to put an end at all cost by conducting a research. A boy in Mulanje is straggling with his life at Queens Elizabeth central Hospital after his private parts were chopped by some unknown people.

There are so many such incidences these days and sadly though some of the girl children falling victims are mentally retarded girls and people take advantage of their state and defile them. Some times this is been perpetrated by even our neighbours as the case in Mponela Dowa where three year old girl twins were being defiled by a 22 year old neighbour.

This sometimes happen in the neighbourhood and we all need to be so vigilant starting with Government machinery like the police, faith community and all civil society fraternity to curb this barbaric acts in our communities. Most victims have their eyes mashed in or clawed out. This week a 2 year old boy missed and the assumption is that he has been killed. We feel it is an organized terror group. Since it keeps on resurfacing for decades in Malawi, we think some traditional healers, popularly known as witchdoctors are behind this. Some quarters suggest even powerful people in most positions are also involved, hence the silence. We therefore request peace loving Malawian and the faith community to pray for our nation especially a child who is always victims of these malpractices.

Action;

• We need a research/survey to assess the situation, and here the Research council should help and those who can identify funding including us. There are so many dimensions, and the more the groups, the better.
• We also need support for the victims and their families, as most of these are from vulnerable families economically, and in poor housing/slums. There is need for a victim Shelter either by Victim Support Units (Police) or Civil Societies.
•  We need global exposure to make our policy makers think twice and to give police more resources, while the police should also be vigilant and prudent. We also need police’s welfare improved for those who are humane to know we care for them, and to appreciate the risk they take and the hard  work they do, and can even do more.
• We need to mobilise families, neighbours, parents, religious institutions, students, vendors, workers, politicians, company executives, donors, and anyone to rise up against this evil. No one would want anything like this to happen to their child, or to anyone they know, even the ones they don’t know like these young girls we did not know. Laws must be changed and parents of children who are involved in selling alcohol or dangerous stuff that makes people abuse others must be punishable by Law if indeed we want our children to be secure from these abusers.
• Traditional doctors must be monitored and watched, as they may also be the main culprits. But because they do duel functions, people are more tolerant as they also help in curing diseases. It is common knowledge that some questionable politicians and business magnates, women and men/adolescents seek human portions of all sorts, sometimes even religious people. A good example is when a prisoner was turning into dangerous animals in a cell. The police and prison were visited by some honourables pretending to visit relative convicts and silently inquiring about this thug and his felony.

Lets Rise Up Against Such Evil Acts!