MZUZU REGISTERS 21% REDUCTION IN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY ASIATU DEULA The Victim Support Unit in Mzuzu, under Malawi Police Service, has recorded a reduction in cases of human rights abuses and gender based violence this year. The number of cases has reduced from 384 last year’s total to 102 this year representing a reduction of 21 percent. According to Mzuzu VSU Coordinator Sergeant Flora Njawiri the reduction of the cases follows sensitization rallies that are conducted monthly. “The reduction is an indication that people are now aware of how they can handle and report human rights abuse to the police and chiefs in the area,” said Njawiri. “We involve chiefs and the people in communities at grass root level in our work.” Njawiri added that even though this is the case lack of enough resources in dealing with such cases is still a challenge. Most women do not report such cases to Police because they are afraid that reporting their abusive husbands to the Police may as well be the end of their marriage. “One time my husband beat me when I had asked him to buy food. I fainted,” recalled Blessings Beza, a victim of gender based violence. She was speaking in an interview recently during a rally of the mother group in Masasa township. The establishment of new community Police in the areas around the city has contributed to the reduction of these cases. Meanwhile the police have given new reflectors to the police communities in the area and conducted training on how they should conducted their work. Police also attributes the reduction of the cases to the community police around the city and the chiefs for their support. Masasa is one of the areas in the city with high number of human rights abuses reporting an average of eleven cases in a month.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:10:32 +0000
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