Gender Based Violence

In 2006 the Malawian Parliament passed the 'Prevention of Domestic Violence Act', providing a tool for the legal system to address a part of Gender Based Violence. Researchers at the Alan Guttmacher Institute reported in 2006 that 25% of female Malawian adolescents included in the research sample had experienced forced sex. Most of the participants stated that their boyfriends, strangers or a teacher had forced them. Although reliable data on the incidence of Gender Based Violence is scarce, there is an increasing body of knowledge indicating that it is widespread and common. Story Workshop, supported by the Dutch organization Cortaid initiated the Kamanga Zula programme to fight Gender-Based Violence. At the heart of the project is two weekly radio programmes: a serial drama and a panel discussion covering all aspects of Gender Based Violence. A media analysis was carried out and workshops were organized for student journalists, both from the Polytechnic and the Malawi Institute of Journalism. The articles in this publication were written by the participants of those workshops for a media contest, organized as a component of the Kamanga Zula project.