Whoever coined the phrase that Malawi is a God-fearing country must be hanging in shame. The statistics out there are not supposed to be appeasing to the God label.
Malawi Police Service has disclosed that the number of sexual crimes against children in the country has drastically increased by 44 percent in two years, a development that has seen the police and child rights activists scratching their heads for lasting solutions.
Speaking in Nsanje, National Child Protection Officer in the Malawi Police Services Alexander Ngwala said crimes against children have leaped from 1000 in 2015 to 1400 in 2017.
According to Ngwala, the country is failing to overcome the challenge children are facing in the country due to stereotypes and harmful cultural practices adding that there is need for concerted efforts by stakeholders in order to end the vice.
He disclosed that crimes such as rape are mostly affecting the girl child in the country.
“Latest statistics reveal that child sexual abuse has increased by 44 percent, mostly perpetrated by relatives or community members,” narrated the National Child Protection Officer.
Meanwhile, Eye of the Child executive director Maxwell Matewere, in an interview with Malawi24, has asked authorities to act swiftly to contain the situation.
According to Matewere, it is high time government took the matter seriously as the statistics give clear indication that government has failed.
The country’s Penal Code stipulates that having sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 16 with or without consent is a criminal act punishable by law and the maximum penalty is life in prison.
This to me is a positive sign that things will change..the increase in percent shows that more cases are being reported and that the community is vigilant to this evil vice and more perpetrators are being cornered as compared to previous time when such vice could not be reported and victims suffered in silence ..big up police big up community things will get better soon