Thandizo breathes a sigh of relief after surviving GBV

“At first, I was hopeless and at times, thoughts of going back to the abusive relationship were piling up in my mind,” confessed Thandinzo*.1
In Malawi, one-third of women have experienced physical violence since age 15, one fifth have suffered sexual violence, and 42% of women aged 20-24 were married before age 18.2 The statistics above provide a clear picture that gender-based violence, in which mostly, women are victims continues to be a big challenge in Malawi. Mchinji is one of the ditricts in Malawi cases of Gender Based Violence are rampant.
Concerned Youth Organization is therefore implementing a project in the district titled Reducing poverty and Inequality whose objective among others is to build local community capacity in ending violence against women and girls through Mobilization, shifting of negative social norm, Rights awareness and Response, and referral systems. Through the project, CYO has supported successful efforts that saw recuring of 120 Gender Based Violence survivors in both Traditional Authority Mduwa and Mkanda in the district.
Despite such success, the challenge has been on the livelihood of the survivors which has been prompting some (survivors) to return to the abusive relationships. To address the gap, CYO is providing vocational skills training in Tailoring and Designing to 60 women and girls that survived Gendr Based Violence in Mduwa and Mkanda. The training aims to provide the survivors with livelihood skills that would see them becoming financially independent.
Thandinzo, 24-year-old young women from GVH Malungu is one of the survivors that are benefiting from the training. “The training has come at the right time for me. Coming to this training will help me to focus and concentrate rather than getting worried about my past,” stated Thandizo and added, “in most cases, women that depend on their husbands for each and everything end up being victims of Gender-Based Violence. I am saying from my personal experience. With this training, I will be relying on myself financially and that will keep me save from common GBV cases.”
Concerned Youth Organization is implementing the project in Mchini in partnership with Oxfam in Malawi with funding from Irish Aid.