Geographical Trends and Patterns of Girl-Child Sexual Abuse in Malawi: An Exploration of the Malawi Police and Hospital Administrative Data

Lana Chikhungu, University of Portsmouth

Most girls in Malawi drop out of school due to teenage pregnancies and child marriage which negatively impacts the country’s human capital. To become an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialized upper-middle-income country by 2063, Malawi needs to make significant strides in sustainable development goals: 3 (Good health and well-being), 4 (Quality education) and 5 (Gender equality). Sexual violence towards women and girls is common and normalised in Malawi but there aren’t any comprehensive published national studies on the topic. This study employs administrative data from the Malawi Police and public health facilities to explore national, regional and district patterns of girl-child sexual abuse in Malawi. The findings indicate an increasing trend for girl-child sexual abuse across all four regions in Malawi. The patterns of girl child sexual abuse from the administrative data aligns with census and survey data.