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Honorable Malera during the Webinar
The Ombudsman for the Republic of Malawi, Honorable Grace Tikambenji Malera, has challenged her counterparts in Africa and beyond to push for legal frameworks that should incorporate issues of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual Harassment (SH) within their mandates.
Malera made the recommendation on August 29, 2023 during a Webinar organised by African Ombudsman and Mediators Association (AOMA) and its research branch, the African Ombudsman Research Centre (AORC).
She said Ombudsman institutions should leverage on their constitutional mandates to get government systems to be more responsive and efficient in tackling matters of GBV and SH as experienced by girls and women.
“We have spent times and resources in addressing manifestation of the vices but time has come to go a bit structural and address the underlying issues, knowing that GBV takes place due to broken systems,” Malera said.
Malera also highlighted that due to homophobic undertones in most African countries, incidences of GBV in same sex relationships are being neglected there by putting the minority populations at great risk.
She thus asked fellow Ombudsman to be intentional and purposeful in tackling the problem which she decried that perpetuates inequalities and drives people into further impoverished situations.
Honorable said the Ombudsman in Africa and beyond can leverage on their powers to conduct systemic investigations by looking at reported trends of GBV.
“We are not necessarily providing first line service on GBV but we are going structural to be able to make recommendations and directives to Ministries of Gender or Justice within our jurisdictions, that’s a critical entry point for us so that we very purposeful,” she added.
In her presentation Honorable Stylianou-Lottides, Ombudsman of Cyprus said Ombudsman institutions can be powerful allies to citizens seeking redress on various injustices including those on GBV and SH.
The Webinar was organised in cooperation with the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and was moderated by Ombudsman for the Republic of Seychelles Honorable Nichole Tirant-Ghérardi.
Participants and panelists discussed the Ombudsman’s role in ensuring women’s safety and empowerment.
Source: Ombudsman for the Republic of Malawi
