Malawi government condemns increasing violence against women, children

   LILONGWE, Jan. 30  -- The government of Malawi has condemned the spate of violence against women and children that has recently taken place in the country.
   Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Mary Thom Navicha, sounded the concern in a statement Wednesday following two incidences that occurred on Sunday in Malawi's cities of Blantyre and Mzuzu where two women were assaulted and undressed for various "petty" reasons.
   In the commercial city of Blantyre, a woman was undressed and sexually harassed by a mob of men in the streets for her "skimpy dressing" while in Mzuzu city a group of women beat and undressed a fellow woman for "spreading false information".
   The videos of the two incidences went viral on social media and they were heavily condemned by human rights advocates across the country.
   In another recent case of child abuse, a 38-year-old woman allegedly defiled a 12-year-old boy in the border district of Dedza, 90km south of the capital, Lilongwe.
   In her condemnation of the acts, the minister called for the public to desist from such criminal acts.
   "All these cases are gross human rights violations with both short and long-term consequences on survivors. Violence, regardless of its form, is a deeply painful experience for the victims," reads the statement.
   The ministry has since commended the Malawi Police Service for swiftly taking the perpetrators of the recent sexual assaults and attacks to book and the assaulted individuals have been assured of support.
   Meanwhile, women rights activists have planned a march in the cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre on February 1 in protest against the harassment of the two women. Xinhua