Intimate Partner Violence – Results from a National Gender-Based Violence Study in Malawi

This report presents findings from a national study on intimate partner violence in Malawi, focusing on the support structures victims utilize and the quality of service provided by police and medical personnel. It highlights a heavy reliance on informal support networks and significant failures in adhering to official police and medical protocols for abuse victims.

• Victims of intimate partner violence in Malawi rely primarily on informal support networks rather than institutional services. The most common source of help is family (19%), followed by marriage councillors (16%) and friends (13%). In contrast, only 4% of victims reported violence to the police, and very few utilized lawyers, psychologists, or victim support units.
• Many victims do not seek help or report abuse due to a perceived lack of necessity or efficacy, or due to emotional barriers. Specifically, 36% of those who did not report felt there was no need to do so, 30% believed reporting would not achieve anything, and 21% were too embarrassed to report.
• Police services in Malawi frequently fail to follow established protocols for handling abuse cases. Despite protocol requiring female officers to interview female victims, 82.5% of the 57 respondents who reported abuse were first interviewed by a male officer. Additionally, only 39% were given a case number, 39.7% were given the name of the officer, and 42.9% were informed of their right to a medical examination before giving a statement.
• Medical response to physical and sexual violence is often delayed, which can undermine the collection of evidence for prosecution. Over half (51%) of victims were examined by a medical practitioner more than two hours after the incident, often due to lack of transport (34%) or the doctor being unavailable (13%).

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Intimate Partner Violence – Results from a National Gender-Based Violence Study in Malawi. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC6.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Intimate Partner Violence – Results from a National Gender-Based Violence Study in Malawi. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC6.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Intimate Partner Violence – Results from a National Gender-Based Violence Study in Malawi |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC6.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndintimate, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Intimate Partner Violence – Results from a National Gender-Based Violence Study in Malawi}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC6.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }