By Alex Kachingwe

Blantyre, July 13, Mana: Senior Group Village Head Ntotela of Traditional Authority Makata in Blantyre has expressed satisfaction with Domwe Active Youth Organization’s (Dayo) continued campaign dubbed: Timveni Amayi which is aimed at raising awareness on abuse against women in the area.

SGVH Ntotela disclosed that most of the women in his area have been facing different kind of abuses from their husbands like being denied access to family planning services and participation in business activities.

“It is true that most women in my area have been facing these challenges which is a total violation of their rights. But the introduction of this campaign has made a lot of men to realize their roles and responsibilities in protecting and respecting the rights of women in a family,” said Ntotela.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana), Dayo Executive Director, Kachale Kainga said after conducting a study, the findings indicated that many women from villages under T/A Makata are facing abuses on issues concerning business participation and accessing family planning services.

Kainga said the organization decided to provide counselling services to all men who did not understand the rights of women in order to allow women, pursue business activities and access family planning services in Domwe, Namwalisiyo and other surrounding villages.

A beneficiary of Dayo interventions, Pinna Manduwa said initially her husband could assault her for trying to access family planning services, but that such is no longer the case because Dayo intervened to make her husband understand the importance of allowing her to access family planning services and conduct a small business of Mandasi.

Blantyre District Gender Officer, Stephano Joseph stressed that the Constitution under Section 24, emphasizes on the freedom of women in the decision-making processes especially on matters that affect their wellbeing.

“Thus restricting women from taking part in socio-economic activities and access to family planning services is an absolute violation of their rights,” Joseph said.

He urged men to always respect the rights of women, saying anything that infringes on the rights of women is an offense punishable by the laws of Malawi.

Apart from raising awareness on abuses against women, Dayo is also providing entrepreneurship skills to women in T/A Makata such as sausages making in an attempt to make them self-reliant and improve their livelihoods.