Salima Council pleased with fight against GBV

Salima district gender officer Fryness Samaliya has expressed excitement with the progress of the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) in the district. She said in an interview on Wednesday that the district registered a decline of GBV cases in 2025 compared with 2024. “Intimate partner abuse and marital cases account for the majority of cases.

In 2025, the district registered 1 112 cases, a decline from 1 457 cases in 2024,” said Samaliya. She said her office is working with the Social Welfare Department to ensure that children, especially girls, have friendly learning environment at school as well as at home. However, Samaliya revealed that there were many cases not reported because of factors, including women’s ‘desperation’ to save marriages.

Salima District Civil Society Organisations Network chairperson Joseph Kandiyesa also bemoaned that some victims do not report domestic GBV. He said: “We face challenges in the fight against gender-based violence because of the culture of silence on violence taking place at household level. “So, as civil society organisations, we cannot invade someone’s privacy in the name of fighting the vice.” Kandiyesa called on stakeholders to come up with strategies to help GBV victims who suffer in silence at household level.

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“One of the solutions is to intensify awareness campaigns on the dangers of gender-based violence and encouraging victims to report,” he said. A mother, Jessie Gondwe, expressed happiness with the decline in GBV cases but asked authorities not to relax to sustain the gains.

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