The Malawi Government says it is considering introducing castration as a form of punishment for sexual offenders, a move that has sparked intense debate both in Parliament and online.
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Mary Thom Navicha, on Monday told Parliament that her ministry is consulting with relevant authorities on how to strengthen punishment for perpetrators of sexual offences.
“I would like to comment on what the Honourable Member for Blantyre Mthandizi has said. Indeed, as a Minister of Gender, I fully agree with what he has said, that the good punishment should be cutting the private parts for all perpetrators,” said Navicha.
She added that her ministry is working with the Ministries of Health and Justice to explore how such measures could be handled.
“I have to be clear, as a Ministry we are consulting, we are also discussing with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Justice on how we can handle this issue. So I would like to assure the House that we are indeed handling these matters and we are not sleeping,” she said.
Navicha emphasized that the government remains committed to ensuring safety for women and girls.
“We would want to see our girls be free and in a safe environment. So be assured, Honourable Member of Parliament. But the idea of cutting the private parts is indeed a welcome development,” she added.
Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman, however, challenged the Minister to clarify how such a proposal would address cases where boys are victims of sexual abuse.
“Minister of Gender, we’ve had incidents where it is the other way around, where girls have raped boys. What do we cut in that?” asked Suleman. In response, Navicha said such cases are rare, noting that most reported incidents involve male perpetrators and female victims.
“Right Honourable Speaker, thank you very much for your comment. So far as a country, we have no cases for boys raping girls… so far we are okay, we have no cases, only boys raping girls, not girls raping boys, same as men and women, it is so rare,” she said.
The remarks have since triggered debate online, with some netizens supporting the proposal as a strong deterrent against sexual violence, while others have expressed concern over human rights implications and the feasibility of implementing such measures within Malawi’s legal framework.
