Sexual Cleansing: Impact on Malawi Women and Their Reproductive Health
By: Isha Shah
Who are the Malawi people?
Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, containing rolling highlands and extensive lakes. Majority of the population engages in cash-crop and subsistence agriculture and exports heavily consist of tea and tobacco. While Malawi has received significant amounts of foreign capital in the form of development aid, its population has suffered from chronic malnutrition, high rates of infant mortality, and crippling poverty [1].
The Malawi people consist of varying ethnic groups including Chewa, Nyanja, Yao, Asian, European, and more and are of Bantu origin [2]. Although Malawi is among the most densely populated countries in southern Africa, it is among the least urbanized with approximately four-fifths of its population living in rural areas [3].
Who are the Malawi women?
In Malawi, the celebration of the birth of a child typically depends on gender. If a child is a boy, the village “becomes noisy with ululations accompanied by joyful singing”; however if the child is a girl, people usually express their disappointment and regret to the new parents. This unwarm welcome exemplifies the beginning of a life of hardships for a girl in Malawi [4].
Malawi has widespread inequalities between men and women – Malawi ranked 173 out of 188 on the UN’s Gender Inequality Index (GII) and also has the eighth highest child marriage rate in the world [5]. Additionally, poverty is another such gendered phenomenon in Malawi; female-headed households are more likely to be amongst the poorest and are disproportionately represented in the lowest quartile of income distribution. While there have been some recent changes to gender equality such as a constitutional amendment regarding the age of marriage increasing to 18, there is still much to be achieved for women’s rights along with more effective implementation of laws already in place. Ultimately, women fare much worse than their male counterparts on most social and economic indicators including political participation, violence, and economic empowerment [6].
Source: Centre for Global Development [7]
What impact do Malawi’s societal practices have on women’s reproductive health?
Sexual cleansing is a common harmful practice in Malawi, in which a women is expected to have sex after “her first period, after becoming widowed, or after an abortion”, as a cleansing ritual. This practice of sexual cleansing is considered to be a rite of passage into womanhood as it is known as “kusasa fumbi” (“brushing off the dust”), which means shaking off the sexual inexperience.
Within many villages, there is an elderly woman, called “nankungwi”, who is considered to be an expert in sexual and reproductive issues, such as menstruation and marriage. Despite this position, many girls are pushed towards sexual cleansing because without it, they are made to believe that they will suffer and become diseased. “Everyone makes sure their child goes to the initiation ceremony because you will not be accepted in the community otherwise,” Jean Mweba, a specialist for reproductive and adolescent health at the United Nations Population Fund. “It’s an issue of being accepted into the community.” [8]
The consequences of this practice are far-reaching. Girls have their childhood and education cut short in order to be married directly after the cleansing. This act of cleansing takes place with a paid sex worker known as a “hyena”. Additionally, they suffer from traumatic sexual experiences and are at high risk of pregnancy and STIs. Furthermore, as of January of 2021, Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally– currently estimated at 439 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births [9]. Approximately one in four teenage girls under the age of 18 is a mother. Becoming pregnant at this young age leads to complications during deliveries and puts them at greater risk for losing their babies, losing their own lives, or developing an obstetric fistula– a condition where a rupture in the birth canal leaves women suffering from incontinence and ostracized from their society [10]. Adolescent pregnancies comprise 29% of all births and 15% of maternal deaths in Malawi.
How do sexual cleansing practices differ in nearby areas?
Some countries surrounding Malawi are Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia. Something that these countries have in common which contrasts from Malawi is the type of sexual cleansing taking place. In Malawi, based on available research, it is seen that the practice of sexual cleansing is prevalent in younger girls than widows. However, in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia, the sexual cleansing practices most often referred to is in regards to widows, who are forced to sleep with their late husband’s brother in order to purify herself and her home after her spouse’s death. Though the age groups differ, the consequences are equally long-lasting. Widowed women in these countries are “forced to have sex with men whose HIV/AIDS status is unknown”, therefore leading to a rampant spread of HIV in certain communities [11].
What change is occurring to address sexual cleansing in Malawi?
Recently, girls rights advocates have attempted to persuade village leaders to alter the sexual nature of initiation camps. Henry Chimbali, spokesman for Malawi’s Ministry of Health, has stated that the ministry has issued a manual to eliminate “harmful cultural practices” in order to keep girls in school and have access to health services. While the issue and effect on reproductive health haven’t been solved yet, Malawi seems to be working towards some change [12]. One way that this change is occurring is through the creation of Malawi’s Girls Empowerment Network. With the support of this organization, girls are coming forward to share how these harmful traditional practices are affecting them and gaining training in the art of leadership and advocacy in order to address village leaders and members of Parliament. Through the skills gained from this network, girls were able to make an alliance with a female village chief from the community of Chitera in southern Malawi. This newfound relation led to the development of bylaws that penalize men who engage in sexual cleansing and child marriage [13]. While the issue and effect on reproductive health haven’t been solved yet, Malawi seems to be working towards some change.
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https://www.skees.org/story/what-it-means-to-be-a-girl-in-malawi/
https://www.usaid.gov/malawi/fact-sheets/malawi-gender-equality-fact-sheet
https://africa.unwomen.org/en/where-we-are/eastern-and-southern-africa/malawi
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/where-are-the-worlds-child-brides/
https://thisisafrica.me/politics-and-society/sexual-cleansing-hyena-men-malawi/#:~:text=Known%20as%20%E2%80%9Ckusasa%20fumbi%E2%80%9D%20(,of%20young%20girls%20into%20womanhood.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture-and-art/zambia-to-ban-sexual-cleansing-rituals/110888
https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/04/health/malawi-girls-initiation/index.html