By Leonard Masauli

Lilongwe, Mana: Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development,  Dr Patricia Kaliati has said the dominant culture of silence was bringing more harm of fueling suicide cases amongst men in the country.

She made the remarks during a Press Briefing at Capital Hill in Lilongwe, to alert the Nation about 16 days of Gender Activism which will be launched on November 25, 2022 in Dedza District.

Kaliati said a lot of men are ending up committing suicide in the country because they are not bold enough to come in the open to report or discuss issues of Gender Based Violence (GBV) with their friends or relatives for solutions.

“In this 16 Days of Gender Activism, we are not leaving out Men, because they are not only perpetrators but are survivors of GBV. We have increased number of men committing suicide in the country because they do not share issues.

“We are calling on the men to come in the open and report such cases. This year’s theme is Unite Activism to End Gender Based Violence in Malawi and we call on various stakeholders to join the efforts to fight GBV,” the Minister said.

Kaliati said government was doing a lot to address issues of GBV and that was why there are a number of laws, such as prevention of Domestic Violence Act, Wills and Inheritance Act among others.

The Minister commended Emma Kaliya and Former President, Dr Joyce Banda for being in the forefront to fight for women rights in the country.

However, Gender Activist, Emma Kaliya said Malawi has commemorated the 16 Days of Gender Activism for 25 years and a lot of things have happened on the way, where empowering women has been deemed as sidelining men.

She said in this, a lot of men groups were introduced to champion GBV issues against fellow men to contribute to the desirable changes towards GBV in the country.

Kaliya called on people in the country to participate in the 16 Days of Gender Activism in trying to combat violence against women.

The Campaign is expected to run from November 25 up to December 10, 2022.

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