My\u00a0name is\u00a0Grace Kumanda. I\u00a0work in\u00a0an\u00a0organization in\u00a0Malawi called Pacacherry which literally means \u00abUnder a\u00a0fear tree\u00bb\u00a0\u2014 because we\u00a0talk about things people are not comfortable to\u00a0talk about: sexism, early marriages and sex-work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Technically sex work is\u00a0not illegal. But we\u00a0have a\u00a0pino-code which was established years ago, during the colonies time. Most of\u00a0this laws were meant to\u00a0protect women, but for some reasons they were misinterpreted and used against them. If\u00a0girls-sexworkers sit in\u00a0the bar or\u00a0stand along the street, policemen can just arrest them. And their argument will\u00a0be: \u00abWhat are they doing at\u00a0that time at\u00a0that place?\u00bb. When you ask them what about the men, they say that men were drinking.<\/p>\n
There are sex workers in\u00a0the age of\u00a010\u00a0years. But in\u00a0my\u00a0country you can be\u00a0a\u00a0sex worker only if\u00a0you are 18\u00a0of\u00a0above. So\u00a0they lie that they are\u00a018, because they still want to\u00a0be\u00a0in\u00a0the space. Most of\u00a0them dropped out of\u00a0school, often primary. They literally do\u00a0it\u00a0for a\u00a0living. The HIV prevalence is\u00a0very high among sex workers: around 62\u00a0from 100 are positive.<\/p>\n
There are sex workers in\u00a0the age of\u00a010\u00a0years. But in\u00a0my\u00a0country you can be\u00a0a\u00a0sex worker only if\u00a0you are 18\u00a0of\u00a0above. So\u00a0they lie that they are\u00a018, because they still want to\u00a0be\u00a0in\u00a0the space. Most of\u00a0them dropped out of\u00a0school, often primary. They literally do\u00a0it\u00a0for a\u00a0living. The HIV prevalence is\u00a0very high among sex workers: around 62\u00a0from 100 are positive.<\/p>\n
Malawi is\u00a0a\u00a0conservative country. People can laugh at\u00a0the meetings, because why do\u00a0we\u00a0talk about this issues? Don`t we\u00a0promote the sex work? \u00abSex workers are immoral sinners!\u00bb.<\/p>\n
We have created a system, thanks to which in case of violence girls can report. A lot of clients abuse and violate sex workers. We`ve linked up with police, with NGOs, we have our own health facilities. Around 6 years ago out of 100 cases of violence probably 50 would be made by police. Now it\u2019s around 10.<\/p>\n
There is\u00a0a\u00a0feeling that if\u00a0I`m a\u00a0sex worker and I\u00a0am violated\u00a0\u2014 well, I`m a\u00a0sex worker, what I\u00a0am supposed to\u00a0do? But sex worker is\u00a0a\u00a0human being. She could be\u00a0my\u00a0sister. She could be\u00a0my\u00a0mother. She is\u00a0someone who has a\u00a0value. Why should we\u00a0disregard her? What gives\u00a0us right to\u00a0do\u00a0that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are a\u00a0lot of\u00a0early marriages in\u00a0Malawi. The culture that exists is\u00a0a\u00a0culture that does not promote girls` education. It\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0culture that expects boys to\u00a0be\u00a0better. Sometimes family can push girl to\u00a0get married. To\u00a0someone who is\u00a0older, has property, money\u00a0\u2014 there are a\u00a0lot of\u00a0school dropouts because of\u00a0that.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0have a\u00a0program called \u00abMy\u00a0future\u00bb, which promotes education for girls. We`ve asked girls: \u00abWhat do\u00a0you want to\u00a0be\u00a0when you grow\u00a0up?\u00bb And they said: \u00abI\u00a0just want to\u00a0have a\u00a0baby\u00bb. They don\u2019t even think about anything bigger. Girls don\u2019t have role models. All that they see is\u00a0that if\u00a0you\u2019re a\u00a0woman, you get married and have children\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s it. But they can be\u00a0bigger than that. You can be\u00a0more than just a\u00a0wife.<\/p>\n
If\u00a0we\u00a0talk about contraception, the feedback that we\u00a0get\u00a0is: \u00abYou want our children to\u00a0have sex?\u00bb.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So\u00a0we\u00a0talked to\u00a0mothers and daughters. For instance, we\u00a0asked a\u00a0mother if\u00a0her 14-years old child has sex. The answer was\u00a0no, never. But when we\u00a0asked the child the answer was yes. And it\u00a0was an\u00a0unprotected sex. We\u00a0have so\u00a0many teenage pregnancies. Mostly girls are about\u00a013, but there are even 10\u00a0years old.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0the frames of\u00a0\u00abMy\u00a0future\u00bb project\u00a0I have worked with a\u00a012\u00a0years old girl who did not even finish primary school. All that she saw is\u00a0a\u00a0lot of\u00a0her friends getting married and having children. So\u00a0she started dating an\u00a0older man who owned a\u00a0shop\u00a0\u2014 she ended up\u00a0pregnant. When we\u00a0met her, she has been out of\u00a0school for 3\u00a0years. This man was violent and finally dropped her. She didn\u2019t see her future, she didn\u2019t even think about going back to\u00a0school. We\u00a0started talking to\u00a0her through the peers. In\u00a0few months her mom agreed to\u00a0take care about baby and she came back to\u00a0school. Sometimes you just need information and a\u00a0little help.<\/p>\n
The perception that if\u00a0the husband beats me\u00a0that means that he\u00a0loves me\u00a0is\u00a0still there. But domestic violence is\u00a0haunted now. The problem that we\u00a0have is\u00a0that a\u00a0lot of\u00a0women report, but then they come back and say: \u00abIt\u2019s my\u00a0husband\u00bb\u00a0\u2014 and she withdraws the claim. Or\u00a0there is\u00a0a\u00a0case when a\u00a0woman is\u00a0abused but she doesn\u2019t even report.<\/p>\n
She is\u00a0afraid of\u00a0her partner or\u00a0what the community will say. \u00abWhat did you do\u00a0to\u00a0make him beat you? You must have done something that triggered him! You should change your behaviour\u00bb. Also there are a\u00a0lot of\u00a0christians who say that you are supposed to\u00a0submit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We\u00a0have a\u00a0lot of\u00a0challenges. We\u2019ve seen a\u00a0lot of\u00a0progress, but we\u00a0can do\u00a0better. What girls need to\u00a0do\u00a0is\u00a0to\u00a0understand that they have a\u00a0value and they are not worse than men\u00a0\u2014 so\u00a0they don\u2019t have to\u00a0live worse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
author: Angelina Sardaryan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My\u00a0name is\u00a0Grace Kumanda. I\u00a0work in\u00a0an\u00a0organization in\u00a0Malawi called Pacacherry which literally means \u00abUnder a\u00a0fear tree\u00bb\u00a0\u2014 because we\u00a0talk about things people are not comfortable to\u00a0talk about: sexism, early marriages and sex-work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":17874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[107,453],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17928"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17928"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22412,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17928\/revisions\/22412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teenergizer.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}