Community Members in Edingeni Upbeat Mobile Legal Clinics Will Reduce GBV
Picture: Principal resident magistrate Paul Chiotcha interacting with a woman during the Mobile legal clinic at Edingeni
Photo By Vanani Nyirenda
A consortium of three organizations - Gender Justice Unit - GJU , Women Lawyers Association and Women Judges Association of Malawi - WOJAM has rolled out mobile legal clinics aimed at sensitizing victims of gender based violence on how they can seek justice using available statutes.
Speaking at Inkosi Mmbelwa's Edingeni headquarters on Monday, Mzuzu Principal Resident Magistrate Paul Chiotcha said the legal clinics were hatched after noting a spectrum of challenges women face to access justice when their rights have been violated.
"We are in a very sad situation that people who are victims of gender based violence do not know how they can access justice do not know where to take their grievances so we are trying to inform them of the available judicial remedies and on how they can bring their complaints before the court, before legal aid, before the police and before all the stakeholders in the criminal justice," said Chiotcha.
Meanwhile, Mzimba Police Victim Support Unit Officer Sub-inspector Wezzie Ngwira says his office is overwhelmed with the number of gender-based violence cases where the majority of complainants are women.
Ngwira said the mobile legal clinics will help bring the courts closer to the people hence easing challenges they were facing when travelling long distances to seek redress.
"The mobile legal clinics will actually help us a lot, you know Mzimba is a vast district, therefore the initiative will assist a lot as in reducing GBV in Mzimba," said Ngwira.
The mobile legal clinics which is bringing together lawyers from the Legal Aid Bureau, Women Lawyers Association and Women Judges Association of Malawi will be conducted in six districts in the country where various partners are implementing the spotlight initiative with funding from UN Women.
Published in: News In Northern Region
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Last modified on Friday, 02/10/2020
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