Bishop Montfort Stima of Mangochi Diocese of the Catholic Church has encouraged the nation to review its cultural practices, especially those that cast women as inferior to men.
He said such tendencies have prevented women from contributing to national development.
Stima made the remarks in Mangochi over the weekend when DMI University held the International Women’s Day celebration for local women who are supported by the institution in the areas of economic empowerment.
Stima observed that Malawian women have for a long time been confined to one place as men prey on them owing to beliefs that a man is the head of the family.
As a result, he said, women—who constitute a big percentage of the country’s population—are not free to contribute to solving their problems and the country’s.
He then requested the government and other concerned stakeholders to put in place policies that would help to influence behavioural change as well as a shift from traditions and cultures that do not value the relevance of women in the society.
“A lot of women and children are suffering today because we are too obsessed with cultures and traditions that take pride of the suffering and oppression of women. We need to realise that men and women are equal in all aspects such that women can also contribute to development just like men,” Stima said.
He further called upon traditional leaders to consider reviewing the relevance of some cultural practices in the modern society.
“I’m not sure if as a country we need to continue getting hold on to some cultural practices such as those which promote male dominance over women,” he said.
DMI University Secretary Father Sengol Jeyaseelan said the university is implementing rights-based approaches to supporting women who are vulnerable so that they can be economically stable.
He revealed that the university is supporting 153 village savings and loan groups, apart from being involved in coaching and leadership training, literacy programmes and capacity building for vulnerable women and children in Mangochi and surrounding areas.
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