The People Serving Girls at Risk (PSGR) has reported that many women who lost their homes in Malawi and their livelihoods due to Cyclone Freddy are at increased risk of sexual exploitation and abuse.

Development Diaries reports that vulnerable women, according to the nonprofit, now find shelter in displacement camps.

Cyclone Freddy hit the southern region of Malawi on 12 March, 2023, with heavy rains and strong winds causing damage to infrastructure such as roads, buildings and electricity lines.

About 1,400 people reportedly died following the flooding of over 170 square miles with half a million people displaced and sheltered across flood-affected areas.

With camps now set up for those who lost their homes to the floods, multiple reports of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence have been lodged.

It is understood that most women are hesitant about reporting incidents to the police as it takes a lot of time for cases to be prosecuted, while victims frequently face scepticism and stigmatisation.

Some married women also fear their husbands will blame them, which could trigger domestic violence.

‘With justice so hard to access, women think, why bother reporting? Judges and magistrates are mainly men, and they do not give priority to the needs of women, so such cases are never prioritised’, PSGR’s Director, Caleb Ngo’ombo, said.

‘This is especially when the perpetrator is in a position of power, has access to money and an image to protect, and is up against a vulnerable woman’.

As more women and girls are being pushed further into poverty by the devastating effect of Cyclone Freddy, it is feared that it could give rise to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.

PSGR and Equality Now have submitted a joint complaint to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), highlighting how vulnerable girls are being left unprotected by the Malawian government’s failure to implement existing anti-trafficking legislation effectively.

Photo source: Equality Now