Translator: Julie Walker Reviewer: sofia Arango
Let me start by sharing a story that happened in this country
in April 2012.
I was in Ntcheu at a bus depot
waiting to catch a public bus
to Lilongwe.
Next to me was a vendor selling air time,
and he had his radio on.
All of a sudden, I hear the guy on the radio saying,
"If you haven't heard this, vendors in the cities
of Blantyre, Lilongwe, and Mzuzu
are stripping all women wearing leggings, mini skirts, or any dress
that ends at the knees and trousers.
It doesn't matter if your trousers are tight or loose-fitting,
but if you're wearing any of these items,
you will be stripped.
Police have failed to contain this situation,
and the army has been brought in
to keep vendors from rioting and breaking into shops.
Businesses have closed down,
but despite the presence of army and police personnel,
women are still being stripped.
So, if you're coming into the city,
make sure you're wearing
a loose, ankle-length dress or skirt or even a chitenge.
Do not wear mini skirts, leggings, or trousers
underneath your chitenge,
because these vendors will lift your chitenge to check
what you have on underneath.
So I, like many women that day,
was forced to wear this piece of cloth
that wraps around your waist.
I got on a bus and, 3 hours later,
I was in Lilongwe.
I could see the police and army standing
around the city doing nothing to stop vendors
that were still checking each and every bus
for women and girls wearing leggings, mini skirts, or trousers,
so they could strip them.
Those that had the misfortune of being stripped
had their purses snatched.
Some were beaten up,
and their breasts and buttocks were fondled.
In 1994,
Malawi gave its citizens the freedom of expression,
which encompasses the freedom of dressing.
Their response to this horrific act,
that started without warning,
was, the next day,
a 2000-woman protest,
attended by then-Vice-President Joyce Banda.
And, the following day,
15 people were arrested,
but no one served time for assault, theft, or even sexual harrassment.
The media, government, churches, human rights activists,
they all condemned the act, but on the ground,
vendors and some citizens justified it,
claiming women needed to be taught a lesson,
because they were disrespecting themselves
by how they dressed.
I tried to get many media houses
interested in producing a documentary
about this day,
but no one was interested,
because women are regarded
as second-class citizens, and our society
has no real interest in dealing
with the issues that affect them.
In area 18,
a mentally ill female
was raped by 3 men.
By morning, the story had spread like wildfire
in the marketplace where these 3 men
drink and operate their businesses from.
Everybody chose to ignore the fact
that a woman had just been violated
and chose to focus on the humor
of 3 men choosing to rape a woman
who, as they put it, was mentally unstable.
This woman came to the marketplace
to confront her rapists.
They threw rocks at her
while bystanders
told her
to shut up and go home,
because she was making noise.
Rape is an expected thing in Malawi,
and there is a sense that every woman
must take necessary measures to ensure
that she doesn't get raped,
and if the crime of rape has been committed,
then you, as a woman, were careless.
This is the reason women do not report rape,
because when the crime of rape has been committed,
the blame is pushed to the victim,
and they're asked questions like,
"What were you wearing?
What did you do to make his blood boil?
He had no choice but to rape you.
What were you doing over at his house?"
So, even the idea of date rape is non-existent.
The victims of rape are afraid
of, not only their rapists, but the community.
For example, if the rapist has a family,
then the victim is labelled a home wrecker
if she reports the crime of rape.
A lot of women, especially in rural areas,
do not have the money to pursue this in court.
So, if brought before traditional leaders like chiefs,
the most justice they will get:
one live chicken
or 3000 Malawi Kwacha,
which is 6 US dollars or an apology.
There're some cases where the rapist
is asked to marry the victim,
and this is considered the better end of the deal.
Women who have been raped in Malawi
are afraid to say so,
because there is a mindset
that if you've been raped,
then no one will ever want to marry you,
because men are thinking,
"Well, somebody was in there.
I don't want to go in there either."
This veil of silence that women are brought up under
has left a lot of room
for another evil practice to flourish:
incest.
As much as we can attribute the crime of incest
to psychological problems,
there are some people in Malawi
that engage in the practice
in the superstitious belief
that it will bring them wealth,
as per instructions given to them
by witch doctors.
While I was doing research for this talk,
I came across a very heartbreaking story.
This man has 7 daughters,
and he has slept with daughter #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6.
The only reason he has not slept
with his 7th daughter is because this girl
had to take medication
so she could have her period
for the entire year.
This girl has her period from 1st January to 31st December
just to keep her father off her.
The women in these homes do not do anything,
because in most cases, the entire family
depends financially on the father.
So, if the victim brings the issue
to members of her extended family
or even the community,
a private meeting is held
where the father, or the man, is asked not to do this again.
Anything beyond that is considered a dishonor to the man,
because in my country, property is listed as follows:
wife,
children,
house,
car.
The list goes on.
This idea that women and children can be owned
is the reason we all turn away.
But, let me tell you this:
families make communities.
Communities build society.
And society builds a nation,
and no nation can develop
without the participation
of each and every one of its healthy citizens.
Our families need to change.
We all know what we are like as parents, as brothers and sisters.
When someone in our home has been raped,
we are filled with embarrassment and shame,
so we are the first to push it under the rug.
We need to change our families.
We need to turn our attention to the victim.
They need to know that we will be their safety net.
They need to know that we will help them
fight for their justice.
We can no longer say,
"Whatever happens next door
is none of my business and is okay
until it happens to me."
You and me are the change.
This is the Malawi that I grew up in,
but I want you to take this home
and really think about it.
Take a month. Take a year. Take 2 years.
But, really think about it and answer the question.
What Malawi do you want your daughter
to grow up in?
Thank you.
(applause)