Gender

Women in Malawi are severely and inordinately affected by poverty. The effects of poverty are exacerbated by their lack of access to proper health services, education, land, income, credit, appropriate technology and information. The problem is aggravated even further by HIV/AIDS, where women are struggling to protect themselves because of views that promote male promiscuity and female submission. In addition, the burden of taking care of the sick and the orphans falls on the shoulders of already overworked women.

Women’s contributions to the economy are commonly disregarded and their participation in policy and decision-making activities is negligible. Additionally, in the midst of all of policy and health problems, stories among the media, NGOs, and women themselves paint a picture of significant gender-based violence.

Malawi has incorporated global mandates into “The Malawi Platform for Action,” which aims to protect women’s rights and freedoms, identify key areas to promote women’s equality and equity, and build more suitable mechanisms for women’s participation in the nation’s development. While all agree that this is a positive step, these concepts have not yet been translated into action.

Story Workshop's Gender-Based Initiatives:

Despite this disheartening situation, Story Workshop works to fight against gender inequity and violence. Learn more about:

• Tingathe!, our mass-media campaign against domestic violence
  
• Sankha Wekha, a campaign focused on keeping young girls in school
  
• Padiwa Sasewera, a radio program focused on family planning
• Kamanga Zula, a three year program on Gender Based Violence, containing two weekly radio shows, one drama series located on a local market, one panel discussions on Gender Based Violence. Kamanga Zula carried out an analysis of the role of the media in the acceptance of the new Law on Domestic Violence which was used as the basis for training for journalist students on how to report on Gender Based Violence. The training resulted in a publication containing contributions of students on Gender Based Violence
• In cooperation with Action Aid, we carried out a campaign against violence against girls in the educational system