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    • Malawians oppose corporal punishment, note lack of support services for vulnerable children
    minsta

    Malawians oppose corporal punishment, note lack of support services for vulnerable children

    Pabio Posted on

    Less than half say help is available for children who have been abused or neglected, have a physical disability or mental health issues.

    Main findings

    • About three in four Malawians (74%) say it is “never” justified for parents to use physical force to discipline their children, an increase of 9 percentage points from opposition to punishment bodily since 2017.
    • A majority (58%) of respondents say the use of physical force to discipline children is uncommon in their community, although 42% disagree.
    • More than half (57%) of Malawians say child abuse and neglect is rare in their community, while 62% perceive children out of school to be a common problem.
    • Less than half of Malawians say members of their community are usually able to get help for children who have been abused, abused or neglected (41%), for children with physical disabilities ( 38%) and for children and adults suffering from mental disorders. or emotional problems (29%).
    • Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Malawians believe the government is doing a ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ good job in protecting and promoting the welfare of vulnerable children.

    Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world, ranking 172 out of 185 countries in the Human Development Index 2023/2024 (United Nations Development Program, 2024). Seven in ten Malawians live on less than $2.15 per day, which has detrimental consequences for children’s health, education and long-term prospects (UNICEF, 2020, 2022).

    In its National Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Development and National Action Plan for Vulnerable Children, the government has outlined wide-ranging efforts to strengthen child protection, reduce child poverty and improve health care, nutrition and other essential services (Government of Malawi, 2009, 2015).

    The country has made substantial progress in a number of areas, including reducing child mortality and stunting, creating a national child protection system to prevent and respond to violence, and scaling up a social cash transfer program for vulnerable households (UNICEF, 2020).

    But threats to children’s well-being remain serious and widespread. Nearly two-thirds of children still live in poverty, seven in 10 young children are victims of violent discipline, and almost half of girls are married before the age of 18, among other risk factors (Government of Malawi, 2015 ; UNICEF, 2020, 2022).

    This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2022) questionnaire to explore Malawians’ attitudes and perceptions regarding child protection.

    The results show that most Malawians oppose the use of physical force to discipline children. The majority of respondents say child abuse and neglect are uncommon problems in their community, although a significant minority disagrees.