Sexual Harassment in Workplace in the Malawi. Read more about Employment sexual harassment laws and policy in Malawi at mywage.org
By Madalitso Kateta
Shira Jumbe was forced into sex without her consent when she was interviewed for a job at a fast-growing department store in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.
Having been out of employment for over two years Shira, who is also the breadwinner in her family, thought that this was the end of the ordeal. But the situation became worse when she was offered the job, as the boss continued to demand sex from her in exchange for better working conditions and financial favours. She was left with only one choice – to quit the job.
Shira now works for a local dispensary shop in the location of Likuni in the same city. She said in an interview that many girls who are working at commodity shops that are currently on the rise in Malawi are facing a lot of sexual abuse, but are failing to report incidences to authorities because of the fear of losing their employment.
She said the trend has been going on in Malawi for quite some time, but victims fail to report the abuse because they come from very poor families and the consequences of losing a job are usually catastrophic.
“I lost my parents when I was at college and I am supposed to provide for my two younger sisters. When the boss sexually abused me for the first time I thought it would end like that and I could continue with life normally,” she said. But it didn’t.
Like Shira, Anita Phiri, who now owns a phone credit selling business in the Lilongwe city centre, said she was forced to leave her job as a secretary at one of the local banks because her boss sexually abused her.
She said her ordeal started when her boss took her to a workshop at the lakeshore district in Mangochi, where she noted that only one room had been booked at the hotel.
“I was surprised that only one room had been booked at the hotel. I asked about it, and my boss responded that it would be sorted out. When I asked him what that meant, he just said if I wanted to maintain my job I had to do as he wished,” she disclosed in an interview.
But while such situations are happening around the country, the Malawi government has ratified many international treaties that promote the equal and fair participation of women in all sectors of the society.
Catherine Mkandawire, national co-ordinator for the Society for the Advancement of Women (SAW), a local NGO that promotes the rights of women, said the problem of sexual abuse in the workplace continues to linger in Malawi because of gender stereotypes that place women below the social radar.
She said that in most Malawian communities women are not empowered at a younger age with access to a good education. This can result in them receiving inappropriate advances from men in exchange for perks and opportunities for employment.
“Instances of sexual abuse at the workplace are very common in the country, but because of the unfair cultural gaps that place women at the lower end of society women suffer in silence,” she said.
Andrew Ussi, Policy and Advocacy director at Link for Education Governance (LEG), an NGO that focuses on the rights of girls to receive higher education, said the problem in Malawi has continued because many girls do not have access to institutions of higher learning.