Malawi: Pornography becoming endemic

A research in Malawi reveals that 21 percent of children whose parents, relatives or guardians own a television set have at one time been exposed to pornographic materials in the past four years. A development that is attributes to the advent of democracy, a process that has given way to lose morals.

The research was carried out between January and February 2008 and commissioned by Media AIDS and Health Watch (MAWA) also revealed that more Malawian children are being exposed to pornographic materials than ever.

Of the 21 per cent exposed to such materials, 13.8 per cent are siblings of Commercial Sex Workers (CSW), a sector of Malawi society the research says let their children watch pornographic films and videos in the name of their profession.
But, for the other children, the watching takes place in the absence of parents, or any adult, an indication that children are also aware that pornography is not good for their mental growth.

The Projects Officer, and lead researcher, Owings Chawanda, Mawa said: “The research revealed that Malawian commercial sex workers often watch pornographic materials in order to keep themselves up dated of ‘latest sexual trends and styles’, and they don’t mind whether their children watches or not. This is a very worrying factor, and, as a nation, we must do something,”

Chawanda further said, of the 21 per cent exposed to pornography, 1.3 per cent have gone on to commit sexual offenses, thinking they may not be punished accordingly for their behaviour. Half of these have, at one time, been kept at a reformatory centre for the past four years, according to Chawanda.

African Network for the Protection and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Malawi Chapter Country Director, Kenwilliams Mhango, said he agreed with the findings, as they tallied with what his organization also found out in 2007.

He said pornography was becoming endemic in Malawi and that it was time society strategised against it.

“it’s not that there was no pornography in the past. But these things were taking place underground, and are now just coming out in the open and getting exposed. That is why we want to work with the Censorship Board on a project aimed at combating the problem; without that, our children will be spoilt and indecent,” Mhango said.

He said ANPPCAN had started an initiative aimed at raising awareness about the evils of pornography among sexual workers; a group he said was vulnerable due to the nature of their profession.

Mhango felt that efforts aimed at curtailing the problem could not work with incorporating sex workers, blaming society for socially marginalizing them.