11 research outputs found
Adolescent sex and ‘defilement’ in Malawi law and society
During colonisation Malawi received a Western penal code, which
included the ‘defilement’ provision, restricting males from sexually
accessing girls below a specified age. Countries that maintain colonial age
of consent provisions, including Malawi, have uncritically assumed that
these laws serve the purpose of protecting girls and children from harm.
This article examines the fundamental assumptions underlying the
development of sections 138 and 160B of the Malawian Penal Code, and
their historical and sociocultural origins. The article submits that these
provisions serve the interests of adults and not those of children. They are
inherently heterosexist, promote gender-stereotypical meanings of
sexuality and potentially stigmatise the normative development of
sexuality in children. Sections 138 and 160B need to be reviewed and
aligned with Malawi’s commitments to promote gender equality and
sexual health and the rights of children.This article was first presented as a paper at the
Colloquium on Adolescent Sexual Rights convened by the Centre for Human
Rights, University of Pretoria.http://www.ahrlj.up.ac.zaam2018Private La
Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and universal health coverage: a comparative policy and legal analysis of Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) forces governments to consider not only how services will be provided–but which services–and to whom, when, where, how and at what cost. This paper considers the implications for achieving UHC through the lens of abortion-related care for adolescents. Our comparative study design includes three countries purposively selected to represent varying levels of restriction on access to abortion: Ethiopia (abortion is legal and services implemented); Zambia (legal, complex services with numerous barriers to implementations and provision of information); Malawi (legally highly restricted). Our policy and legal analyses are supplemented by comparative vignettes based on interviews (n = 330) in 2018/2019 with adolescents aged 10–19 who have sought abortion-related care in each country. We focus on an under-considered but critical legal framing for adolescents–the age of consent. We compare legal and political commitments to advancing adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, including abortion-related care. Ethiopia appears to approach UHC for safe abortion care, and the legal provision for under 18-year-olds appears to be critical. In Malawi, the most restrictive legal environment for abortion, little progress appears to have been made towards UHC for adolescents. In Zambia, despite longstanding legal provision for safe abortion on a wide range of grounds, the limited services combined with low levels of knowledge of the law mean that the combined rights and technical agendas of UHC have not yet been realised. Our comparative analyses showing how policies and laws are framed have critical implications for equity and justice
The duty to make abortion law transparent : a Malawi case study
Despite adopting a progressive legal and policy framework informed by internationally recognized human rights norms and values, Malawi has not complied with the obligation to explain its abortion law in accordance with legal and human rights standards. In 1930, the colonial government adopted a Penal Code derived from English criminal law, containing provisions regulating access to abortion, but has not undertaken measures to explain when abortion is lawful. What constitutes legal abortion has never been clarified for health providers and potential clients. Consequently, eligible girls and women fail to access safe and legal abortion. The Malawi Law Commission, following its review of the colonial abortion law, has proposed liberal changes which, if implemented, would expand access to safe abortion. However, the immediate step the government ought to take is to clarify the current abortion law, and not to wait for a new law expected to materialize in the indeterminate future.Regional Team for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Embassy of Sweden, Lusaka, Zambiahttp://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijgo2019-12-01hj2019Private La
Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and universal health coverage : a comparative policy and legal analysis of Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) forces governments to consider not only how services will be
provided – but which services – and to whom, when, where, how and at what cost. This paper considers the
implications for achieving UHC through the lens of abortion-related care for adolescents. Our comparative
study design includes three countries purposively selected to represent varying levels of restriction on access to
abortion: Ethiopia (abortion is legal and services implemented); Zambia (legal, complex services with
numerous barriers to implementations and provision of information); Malawi (legally highly restricted). Our
policy and legal analyses are supplemented by comparative vignettes based on interviews (n = 330) in 2018/
2019 with adolescents aged 10–19 who have sought abortion-related care in each country. We focus on an
under-considered but critical legal framing for adolescents – the age of consent. We compare legal and
political commitments to advancing adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, including
abortion-related care. Ethiopia appears to approach UHC for safe abortion care, and the legal provision for
under 18-year-olds appears to be critical. In Malawi, the most restrictive legal environment for abortion, little
progress appears to have been made towards UHC for adolescents. In Zambia, despite longstanding legal
provision for safe abortion on a wide range of grounds, the limited services combined with low levels of
knowledge of the law mean that the combined rights and technical agendas of UHC have not yet been
realised. Our comparative analyses showing how policies and laws are framed have critical implications for
equity and justice.MRC/DFIDhttps://www.tandfonline.com/loi/zrhm21am2021Centre for Human Right
Childhood sexuality in Africa : a child rights perspective
It is an undeniable fact that children in Africa face many
challenges in their sexual health and development trajectories. One
of the challenges that children face is ideological, that is, the social
construction of childhood sexuality and the effects of that construction
on law and policy and on what information and services children may
access regarding sex and sexuality. Adults tend to represent children as
sexually innocent and incompetent, and their actions toward children
focus on preserving this sexual innocence and averting sexual risks. The article discusses how this ideological positioning of children shapes
sexuality education, and the criminalisation of sexual conduct between
consenting adolescents. Legal instruments and related interpretive
instruments such as court judgments and the General Comments and
Recommendations of treaty-monitoring bodies play an important role
as they construct meanings of childhood sexuality that align with or
contradict dominant representations of childhood as sexual innocence
which has effects for children’s sexual rights. The article analyses how
General Comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the
African Committee of Experts have represented childhood sexuality. It
argues for the transformation of views about children toward perceiving
children as having sexual agency to the extent of their evolving
capacities, as a prerequisite to addressing challenges that children face
in Africa relating to sexuality. It recommends that the African Committee
of Experts should, in its interpretation of the African Children’s Charter,
construct childhood sexuality positively to represent children as sexual
agents rather than positioning them as sexually innocent which also
implies viewing any sexual activity of the child as inherently harmful or
as a mark of deviance or corruption.https://www.ahrlj.up.ac.zapm2021Centre for Human Right
Preventable hysterectomies in Malawi : addressing challenges in the healthcare system
Women should play a key role in ending the problem of preventable hysterectomies that are a result of poor obstetric and gynecological care in Malawi.http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijgohj2021Centre for Human RightsPrivate La
A review of the role of Malawi’s law reform agency in criminalization and decriminalization of female same-sex sexual conduct
The Law Commission is an institution created by Malawi’s 1995 Constitution with the mandate to review and recommend laws to be in conformity with the Constitution and international law. In 2000, the Commission recommended, for the first time in the history of Malawi, the criminalization of female same-sex sexual conduct. This was enacted into law in 2011. This article examines the role of the Commission in influencing the development of sex- and gender-related laws to address gender inequality and discrimination. It describes the historical context of legal developments since colonial times, leading to the adoption of a democratic constitution and commitment to incorporating human rights norms and standards in national laws. It argues that, in contradiction to its mandate, the Commission played an influential role in the development of a law that further marginalizes women and entrenches sex discrimination. It concludes that the Commission should therefore take responsibility for its actions and review the offending law sua sponte.The Other Foundation www.theotherfoundation.orghttps://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjls20hj2020Private La
(De)criminalizing adolescent sex : a rights-based assessment of age of consent laws in Eastern and Southern Africa
Age of consent criminal laws imposed on African states during colonialism were inherently patriarchal and gender-stereotypic,
and continue to influence country approaches toward adolescent consensual sexual conduct. There are two major policy
positions: a punitive and a nonpunitive approach. Most countries adopt the punitive approach. Mostly, legislation does not
explicitly criminalize consensual sexual conduct between adolescents, and this leaves a gray area to be filled in by social and
cultural norms that perceive adolescent sexual conduct negatively. Punitive approaches have been justified as necessary to
curb harms to adolescents resulting from sexual conduct, including teenage pregnancies and sexual abuse. Age of consent
laws, especially in their original colonial formulation deny adolescents, especially girls, sexual autonomy and agency. States
focus more on punishment than on taking measures to address the structural antecedents of harms associated with sexual
intercourse. States should reform age of consent laws to decriminalize consensual sex between adolescents in accordance
with recognized rights of the child.http://journals.sagepub.com/home/sgoam2019Private La