Lichinga: March against violence rescheduled and why its previous cancellation is “understandable” – NGO

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Lichinga: March against violence rescheduled and why its previous cancellation is “understandable” – NGO

1:02 CAT | 29 Jan 2020

File photo: Lusa

The Forum of Women’s Organisations in Niassa (FOFEN), a non-governmental organisation in the north of the country, said on Tuesday that it considered the cancellation of a march against violence against women and children by the Lichinga municipality “understandable”, and has rescheduled the event.

On Monday, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Mozambican civil society organisation based in Maputo, criticised the decision by the Lichinga City Council to ban the FOFEN march, saying it violated Mozambique’s Constitution.

“Nobody in Mozambique should prohibit people, properly organised, from demonstrating in a peaceful manner, as the right to demonstrate is a constitutional right,” the CDD press release read.

A copy of the order of the mayor of Lichinga, Luís Jumo, dated 14th of this month and communicated to the march organisers on the 23rd, advised the march organisers to “wait for a better opportunity”.

But speaking to Lusa yesterday, FOFEN president Helena India said she found the municipality’s decision “understandable,” given that the city was in the throes of important political developments.

“The date we had chosen for the march [January 27] fell within a period of introducing the new provincial Governor and [later] introducing the new Secretary of State to the people of Niassa and the city of Lichinga,” India said.

The new Governor of the province of Niassa, Elina Judite Massengele, was introduced to the population on the 26th and the new Secretary of State, Dinis Vilanculos, on the 27th.

Helena India said that FOFEN has proposed the 8th of February for the march, asking for mass public participation and characterising violence against women in the province “alarming”.

“We have to shout out with all our voices against this shocking situation. Women are living in constant fear of violence,” she stressed.

In December, she continued, a girl was found dead on the banks of a river in Cuamba district with her genitals removed, after disappearing on the way to the home of a relative where she was going to stay.

In recent months, she added, children, including some under the age of five, have been raped in Lichinga, by family members or neighbours.

“It is not just a problem for women. It is also a problem for men who have daughters and sisters, and cannot rest until their family members return from school or work,” India added.

India criticised the state’s lack of firmness in combating violence against women, with many of those suspected of involvement in such crimes ending up released for lack of evidence.

Last week, the NGO Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), a coalition of civil society organisations defending women’s rights, called the extent of gender-based crimes in Mozambique “scandalous”.

ALSO READ: Mozambique: Rape victim dies in hospital

Source: Lusa