COMMUNITIES URGED TO REPORT GENDER BASED VIOLENCE THROUGH SUGGESTION BOXES
By Lusungu Mzembe – TFM
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) under Karonga Diocese through the Timazge Nkhaza Project has urged community members of Karonga district to report gender-based violence issues through the suggestion boxes that have been placed at various institutions in the district.
In an interview with Vincent Bwinga the project coordinator, he said that a lot of people fail to report directly to the authorities when they encounter gender-based violence in their communities as they are afraid of risking their lives, as such the organization has distributed suggestion boxes so that people should express their issues without any hindrances.
“We saw that many people in various communities are at risk and sometimes discriminated when they have reported issues of violence to the authorities as such, we believe that through these suggestion boxes a lot of them will report the abuse they face hence on the other hand we are trying to reduce cases of gender-based violence in the district,” Bwinga said.
Bwinga said the suggestion box will also help them to come up with a proper solution in implementing their project as they will be able to identify gender-based issues that are affecting people in the district.
Commenting on the matter the zone coordinator at Chisi area Geoffery Kawonga commended CCJP for the development saying that it will help a lot of people in the area to report cases of Gender Based Violence as they will be able to express themselves without being known to the community.
“We are very thankful for the development in our area as it will help minor groups to report when they encounter gender-based violence without the fear of being known and discriminated and we will urge community leaders, religious leaders, representatives from mother groups, community policing units, teachers and male champions to raise awareness about the use of these suggestion boxes”, Kawonga said.
CCJP Is implementing the Timazge Nkhaza project in three Traditional Authorities (T/A) of Mwakaboko, Kilupura and Kyungu with funding from the NCA-DCA Joint Country program.