Can Social Justice and Malawian Cultural Norms Co-exist?
I’ve recently been reflecting on my time as a Global Health Corps fellow at Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), a family planning services nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Malawi. During my fellowship, I had the opportunity to represent my placement organization at NGO Week, an event where NGOs in Malawi come together to advocate and spread awareness about their work. To this day, I find going to such exhibitions both stimulating and exciting because they provide a platform for learning and collaboration across different programs and organizations. But this day was also particularly memorable for another reason, and I’ve been thinking a lot about in light of this year’s International Women’s Day campaign around #BalanceforBetter.
As I surveyed the many NGO stands that were present, I stopped by one working on human rights. The man behind the desk explained how their organization raises awareness towards preventing gender-based violence. We got into a conversation about why violence occurs in many relationships and the stories he had come across in his role as an anti-violence advocate. The conversation progressed into a discussion on the rape of young girls. Specifically, I asked him why he thought there had been a recent rise in rape cases involving adolescent girls in Malawi and what could be done to involve men in the solution.
He said, “Okay, now let me tell you the real reason why these things are happening. You see, it’s you girls nowadays. You have forgotten your culture; you go around adopting western mentality, and dress in your jeans and mini shorts and expect nothing to happen you? Of course, things will happen! It’s expected! It is your fault!”
I felt shock, anger, and fear. Shock, because I couldn’t believe what he said even though I had heard variations of it before. Anger, because I disagreed with him strongly. And lastly fear, because this man worked for a human rights organization. Those are the opinions that he should be fighting against, not harboring within himself. Furthermore, in the course of our conversation, he told me how part of his job was handling rape cases. After hearing his viewpoint, I wondered how he would be able to do his job effectively if this was his stance.
Before the incident at the NGO exhibition, as I was waiting for a minibus to go to work one morning, I overheard a group of women talking about a young woman who had been stripped at a market nearby. They said she had dressed inappropriately by wearing a dress that was too short. The women were all of the opinions that “she deserved it” and that she had “asked for it”. They even went on to conclude that the men who stripped her should have raped her.
I am a proud Malawian. I believe wholeheartedly that our culture and our values (such as the importance of community) should be respected and maintained, but a line should be drawn when cultural norms excuse any type of physical or sexual abuse.
According to UN Women, one in three women around the world have either been physically or sexually abused. One in every three women can be just a number, except when that one is your sister, daughter, wife, mother, cousin, niece, friend, or you.
One in every three women can be just a number, except when that one is your sister, daughter, wife, mother, cousin, niece, or you.
Banja la Mtsogolo (BLM) is knee-deep in this struggle as the organization aims to provide sexual and reproductive health services to the Malawian population despite the many challenges that cultural norms pose. One major challenge is that culturally, decisions regarding the number of children a couple has or what type of contraceptives they use usually lie with the man in the relationship and not the woman.
BLM provides family planning services to individuals, mostly women, in communities that have difficulties accessing them. Even though family planning services are made available to rural communities, cultural norms and certain values still make it difficult for many women to make decisions about their reproductive health rights. Societal norms and stigmas also hinder the youth population from exercising their sexual and reproductive health rights.
Culture, at its core, is a consensus of norms set up by a group of people. People create culture, meaning that it is not fixed, but subject to change. It should be used as a tool for promoting social justice and not as a stumbling block for development. Culture does not have to be pursued at the expense of social justice — culture can be used to ensure and protect the integrity of social justice. Working in the sexual reproductive health field, I feel I have more of an appreciation of just how much of a challenge this can be. But as Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Lucky Gondwe was a 2015–2016 Global Health Corps fellow at Banja la Mtsogolo in Malawi.
Global Health Corps (GHC) is a leadership development organization building the next generation of health equity leaders around the world. All GHC fellows, partners, and supporters are united in a common belief: health is a human right. There is a role for everyone in the movement for health equity. To learn more, visit our website and connect with us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook.
