Gender-based violence including intimate partner violence is still one of the challenges affecting the people in Malawi, particularly women and girls. The communities surrounding the tea and macadamia estates are not spared from this challenge. While interventions to address gender-based violence are being undertaken, the lack of proper infrastructure for the victims to utilize as they seek help in the Police Stations is still a problem. In response to this need, Eastern Produce Malawi (EPM) has constructed two Victim Support Units (VSUs) in Thyolo and Mulanje districts through its Women Empowerment Initiative. This has been done as one way of supporting the response efforts to address cases of gender-based violence while allowing the victims to have safe spaces to report the issues affecting them.
Art & Global Health Centre Africa (ArtGlo) with support from EPM is implementing the Tiyambe project in Mulanje and Thyolo districts to civic educate communities surrounding EPM’s tea and macadamia estates on gender-based violence using Theatre for Development (TfD). One of the challenges encountered during the project implementation has been the lack of proper structures that offer a conducive environment for the victims of gender-based violence to seek help.
EPM’s intervention to construct the VSUs will greatly contribute to the realization of the objectives of the Tiyambe project. Since the construction of the units, ArtGlo has been able to refer victims to these facilities whenever they need help. The VSUs are expected to benefit people from the two districts and at least 72 villages surrounding these facilities where ArtGlo is implementing the Tiyambe project will be the primary beneficiaries.
