Feature

By Frazer Potani, Lilongwe, Malawi

After plucking courage from her brain’s sticking place she thought enough was enough and could hide it no more but to let it out of the bag.

Yes! In the middle of more advanced discrimination and stigma against existing people who are engaged in same sex orientation in Malawi, a young woman recently surprised her tiny nation when she boldly came in the open and made a rare declaration that she has been a lesbian for some years.

This just proves that time is slowly silently running out for Malawian society to continue denying the reality that people with same sex orientation exist in the country.

“I had decided to come out in the open as the first step to getting Malawian society to accept that lesbians exist and will always be part of the society,” said a Lilongwe based 23-year-old Mercy Kumwenda to the media on the sidelines of a post 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) National Consultative meeting organized by the British Charitable organization, Oxfam in Lilongwe.

Kumwenda said that people think that being a lesbian one is a witch, abnormal, satanic or just want to make money.

“But for me it’s inborn. I mean how, do you sleep with a man if I have no feelings for a man, I have tried dating men but it didn’t work,” said Kumwenda adding that she was a lesbian hence there was even no need to hide her sexual orientation.
She urged Malawians to start accepting that lesbianism was real in the country.

“But those who practice it do not come out in the open for fear of the society’s reaction. I know many others who choose not to come out because they are afraid of the society’s reaction,” explained Kumwenda, a health medical carer for the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) responsible for Lilongwe District.
She reportedly discovered her sexual orientation when she enrolled for standard eight and had her first relationship with her closest friend.

“Like all other lesbians, I am a normal human being who deserves respect and not a target for ridicule. In Malawi we actually have a name Mathanyula for it showing that being gay is not from the West, it has been in Malawi for a long time,” said Kumwenda.

She disclosed that she was even still in that relationship despite that they have yet to decide on marriage issue.
Kumwenda explained that she has so far only disclosed that she was a lesbian to her employers.

“A lot of lesbians in Malawi cannot come out because of how the society perceives them even on the slightest suspicion of their being what they are. We have to come out because if we don’t, how will government and other institutions going to help us? We want to be protected,” she said adding, “That can only be achieved if the forthcoming MDGs incorporate our issues as well.”

Kumwenda also said it was important for the forthcoming development goals to incorporate issues that are going to liberate lesbians or homosexuals in general from problems they face in the society such as discrimination and access to health services.

Her open declaration that she is a lesbian comes after mid last year, two Blantyre based girls- Regina Mmangausi and Ruth Banda- hit headlines after the couple also reportedly held a private traditional engagement which was later discovered to be fake and was staged by some unscrupulous people who wanted to taste waters on same sex orientation rights in Malawi.

A hot debate on homosexuality in Malawi however, first erupted under late president Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration.

This was after Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza became the first gay couple in Malawi to hold a public engagement in Blantyre in December 2009.
The couple was jailed by the court for 14 years imprisonment with hard labour.
However, a few weeks into their sentence Mutharika pardoned them following pressure from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon who visited Malawi alongside other western governments and human rights activists.

Appreciating that there exist men and women engaged in same sex orientation in Malawi, CEDEP is a Malawian Non-Governmental- Organization (NGO) led by Gift Trapence, a reknowned local gay rights campaigner aiming at advancing the human and health rights of such minority groups including sex workers, prisoners and people in same sex relationships.

In Malawi there is a need to repeal some of laws, policies and practices that are infringing Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHRs) of citizens including some groups that are vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infections including people with same sex oriantation.

The tiny southern African nation has in recent years registered successful stories in HIV and AIDS fight including a reduction in the number of People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in the over 13 million plus population due to some strategies in the fight against the pandemic in place.

The former Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Principal Secretary (PS) now PS for Ministry of Gender, Mary Shawa, attributed successes attained in HIV and AIDS fight in Malawi to donor support including from the Global Fund.

She disclosed that Malawi has achieved a lot of progress in HIV and AIDS fight, stabilizing the prevalence rate to about 12 per 100 in the 13 million plus population from the previous 14 percent.

“In fact even the number of people dying from HIV and AIDS related illnesses in Malawi now stands at 5 percent, down from 11 percent in 2004. The decrease is due to increases in the number of People Living With HIV and AIDS now on anti- retro viral treatment and over 80 percent of patients on ARV treatment are still alive,” said Shawa.

But there are some laws, policies and practices in Malawi that are infringing sexual rights as well as threatening to offset the country’s gains in HIV and AIDS fight.

The threatened rights are of key populations at higher risk of exposure to HIV and AIDS Men having Sex with fellow Men (MSM), Women having Sex with fellow Women (WSM), sex workers and prisoners through among other things denying them treatment since their sexual practices are in conflict with Malawi Law.

Several researches by the United Nations (UN) Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) and other International Organizations reveal that societies that are criminalize same-sex acts in fact lead to greater HIV prevalence hence their gains attained in their fight against the pandemic risk being eroded.

An UNGASS Consultative Process, 2009-2010 cross survey in Malawi reveals that since people with same sex orientation are denied Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHRs) services including treatment HIV prevalence rate was even higher in such groups.

The survey used a snowballing approach in Malawi with a sample of 200 Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and discovered that the prevalence of HIV in the country was 21.4 percent which was much higher than the national prevalence of approximately 12 percent.

“A survey of a bigger scale needs to be commissioned to better appreciate the size and particular needs of this Most at Risk Population in Malawi. A wide range of participants from Government and Civil Society voiced during the UNGASS Consultative process that as long as there is criminization of Men who have Sex with Men and fear of arrests, it will be very difficult for this group to be reached with effective prevention, treatment, care, and support,” reads the report in part.

After becoming Malawi’s President following president Bingu wa Mutharika’s death in April last year, President Joyce Banda’s government brought some hope in minority groups by promising that it would repeal the laws infringing rights of minorities including people with same sex orientation such as MSM and lesbians or WSM.

Banda however, made a u-turn on the matter by announcing that her government will not revisit the said laws and it is up to Malawians to decide on the matter and the issue shocked Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who have been fighting for such vunerable groups’ rights.

Undule Mwakasungula a prominent Malawian humanrights campaigner, Executive Director for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and National Coordinator for the Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) a grouping of over 100 Malawian Non-Governmental-Organizations (NGOs) said It was unfortunate that Malawi Government has changed its tune on the matter.

“We can’t claim that we are a democratic society and do respect human rights when the rights of minorities are being infringed in one way or the other because rights of minorities are part and parcel of democracy itself,” he said.

The Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) a mother body of religious organizations involved in the fight against HIV and AIDS dismissed reports that people with same sex orientation including gay men and MSM have their rights violated through among other things denied health services in Malawi.

In a statement MIAA even claimed that it does not consider people with same sex orientation such as MSM to be a high HIV infection risk grouping which Mwakasungula however, said was misleading since such people are “key population at higher risk of HIV exposure.”

“Key population at higher risk of HIV exposure refers to those most likely to be exposed to HIV or to transmit it. Key populations are distinct populations because they are subjected to societal pressures or social circumstances that may make them more vulnerable to eposure to infections, including HIV,”said Mwakasungula.

He further explained that in all countries including Malawi, key populations include people living with HIV and AIDS, gay men and other MSM, transgender persons, people who inject drugs and se workers and their clients.

“Social exclusion of key populations at higher risk of HIV infection is often exacerbated by laws, which criminalize these communities. Harrassment from the police frequently drives these communities underground making them even harder to be reached with HIV-related services,” said Mwakasungula.

He said this was even a clear message from The Africa Dialogue on HIV and the Law, held in Pretoria, South Africa in August 2011 that drew participants from across Africa including Malawi, to give evidence of and discuss the relationship between law,policy, and human rights and HIV.

“Individuals and organizations working with vulnerable groups in Malawi gave evidence how key populations such as gay men and other men who have sex with men experience stigma and discrimination relating to HIV and AIDS. It’s also consistent with the findings of the assessment of the legal and regulatory environment for HIV and AIDS in Malawi in 2012 by the Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS in the Office of President and Cabinet with support from UNDP Malawi Office,” explained Mwakasungula.

Meanwhile, some voices from the affected communities who were interviewed on the matters concerned are quoted on page 36 of the report and backs Mwakasungula’s claims.

“People who are gay cannot disclose because of criminal sanctions. When they get ill or have anal infections, they find it hard to disclose and get treatment because they are afraid of being asked so many questions,” one interviewee is qouted as saying.

“In some cases, you find that someone engages in a sexual activity and gets an STI, we fail to properly explain to the doctors where we got the STI from because they would call the police and get us arrested,” explains an MSM in the same report.

A medical practitioner who was also interviewed is quoted in the same report saying: “As a doctor you feel awkward on what to do when you treat a homosexual with an STI. Because this is classified as criminal behaviour, potentially one might be expected to report the same to the police...On the other hand, one may accuse the doctors of aiding a person treating a person engaged in homosexual practices when they are apprehended...”

Concerned that among other things, Malawi’s successes that have been registered in HIV and AIDS fight may be eroded if sexual rights of existing minorities such as Men having Sex with Men (MSM) and Women having Sex with Women (WSW) are ignored, some members states including Australia, Austria, Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland, Mexico, Sweden according to the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) recommended under the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that Malawi put in place a moratorium on convictions for same-sex relationships and, over time, decriminalize homesexuallity in order to fully apply the principle of equality and non-discrimination among all persons.

“But in response to the member states’ recommendations documentated our office Malawi is of the view that such a radical overhaul of the law will require detailed consultative process in line with the views, opinions and beliefs of the people of Malawi,” explained MHRC Public Relations Officer Mike Chipalasa.
MHRC Commissioner Noris Chirwa disclosed that Malawi Government presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the human rights situation in Malawi on November 2010.

“The UPR is a new and unique human rights mechanism established by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations created through the UN General Assembly, aimed at reviewing and assessing the performance of member states on human rights issues,” she said adding that following the review, Malawi received 127 Recommendations.

“65 of the Recommendations were accepted, 39 were rejected and [Malawi] Government did not reject nor accept 23 of the Recommendations, indicating that there was a need to undertake further consultation with respect to these recommendations,” said Chirwa.

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