Gender gap persists in Malawi, study says

A study by Afrobarometer has disclosed that Malawi continues having a wide gender gap despite efforts to have women representation being stepped up.

Though the study applauded Malawi government for making tremendous efforts on legal part of empowering women, the country still faces hitches in empowering women.

Among the areas to have had gaps include women representation in Parliament as records showed a drop from 22.3 percent in 2009 to 16.7 percent in 2015.

“But this electoral progress came to halt in 2014 parliamentary elections in which the number of females MPs (Members of Parliament) dropped to 16.7 percent,” reads part of the study.

Gender activist Emma Kaliya is on record to have faulted “hypocrisy” of not abiding to the laws that seek women empowerment in Malawi.

Malawi enacted laws such as Gender Equality Act and Prevention of Domestic Violence Act to spearhead efforts of having women in power.

Afrobarometer survey is a pan-African nonpartisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on subjects such as democracy, governance and the economy.