Ending cultural practices that fuel HIV transmission in Malawi

Martha (not real name) is 17 years old and one of the girls that have benefitted from the Prevention Programmes for Adolescents and Youth in and out of School that ActionAid Malawi is implementing in Lilongwe district through Plan International, Chinansi Foundation and Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) with funding from the Global Fund.

Martha was forced into marriage after she slept at her boyfriend’s home for a night. According to her mother, they forced her to get married because their culture does not allow a girl to continue staying at her parents’ home after sleeping at a man’s house. “It is a taboo to accept that girl back into your home,” she said.

But thanks to the Prevention Programme for Adolescents and Youth in and out of School intervention that trained Peer Educators at Malembe Community Based Organization (CBO) in Area 25, where Martha is currently staying, on gender-based violence and girls rights. Immediately after the peer educators received news of Martha’s forced marriage, they informed the Village Headwoman, who was also trained on child protection under the same program. The Village Headwoman then gave the Peer Educators authority to report the case to Kanengo Police Station after mutual discussion with Martha’s parents failed.

Together with Kanengo Police Child Protection Officer, who also went through a child protection training under the program, the Peer Educators, counselled Martha’s parents and the parents for Martha’s boyfriend. Later, both parents accepted to withdraw Martha from the forced marriage. The Police then issued a letter to have Martha undergo a medical check-up and the results proved that she was not pregnant neither did she contract any sexually transmitted disease. Owing to the speedy response and intervention, Martha stayed in the forced marriage for only 14 days.

Today, Martha is back to school and is in Grade 7. “I was not happy to be married off because I am still young. But I am grateful that my parents understood the challenges I would face if I had stayed in the marriage. I am now happy to be back in school because it has revived my dream of becoming a doctor,” she said.

Immediately after reporting for classes, Martha was also counselled by the school’s management with the leadership of the Girls Club Matron who went through a training under the Prevention Programme for Adolescents and Youth in and out of School. The teachers encouraged her to work hard in class, but more especially helped her to deal with any negative remarks she would encounter from fellow learners.

Martha’s mother said is grateful for the counsel they received which has prevented their    daughter from facing the consequences of early marriage. “It is a great privilege that this program has come at this time because it has helped in rescuing my daughter from the forced and early marriage. I have understood the challenges that come with early marriage and that nothing would happen to our family if she continues staying with us after sleeping at a man’s house. It is her bright future that matters, and this is why I am now supporting her education from the little money I earn after selling firewood,” she said.

According to one of the Malembe Peer Educators that was involved in Martha’s case, Racheal Nali, they have managed to bring back to school 10 girls within their area after they were trained in 2017. “These girls dropped out of school due to different reasons including child marriage and parent’s negligence. We also have Five girls who were kidnapped by one man, and this man was raping and beating them. We have reported the case to Kanengo Police, and they are doing their investigations,” she added.

Apart from fighting gender-based violence, Rachel said girls in Area 25 have benefitted through this program. “We learn about HIV and how we can prevent it, the need to know one’s HIV status, our rights to access contraceptives, and more still we have learnt different economic skills and some of us have started small scale businesses and are becoming financially independent. Economic independence is preventing us from indulging in transaction sex and in the long run, we are preventing ourselves from contracting HIV,” she continued.

The Prevention Programme for Adolescents and Youth in and out of School aims at reducing HIV incidences amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYWs) aged 10-24 by increasing awareness of AGYWs in HIV and AIDS, reducing school drop-out rate and contributing to the reduction in incidences of gender-based violence. ActionAid is implementing this program in Five districts of Lilongwe, Mangochi, Mulanje, Thyolo and Chikwawa.