Women’s rights activists have condemned the two-year sentence given to an HIV-positive man who claimed to have had sex with more than 100 women and girls in Malawi.
The Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC), the Gender Coordination Network and the African Women’s Development and Communications Network (Femnet) branded the sentence of Eric Aniva a disgrace, and demanded it be reviewed. Aniva admitted in a BBC documentary that he had had sex with women and girls in traditional “cleansing” rituals.
“We are shocked and appalled that a man, living with HIV, has for over two decades sexually violated children as young as 12 years of age in an outdated, retrogressive culture that is harmful for women and girls,” said Emma Kaliya, executive director of MHRRC.
“What message does this send to all perpetrators of sexual violence hiding behind discriminatory and destructive cultural practices – that you can get away with only two years? This is a disgrace and a big letdown to the women and girls of Malawi. The courts of justice must revoke and reconsider this sentence.”
Aniva’s case is the first to be tried under Malawi’s Gender Equality Act of 2013.
“This is a great disappointment to the test of a new law that should otherwise be stringent enough to fully protect women and children. We are enraged,” Kaliya added.
Hellen Apila, Femnet’s head of advocacy, said: “These are the destructive cultures we are fighting against that have continued to endanger and harm women and girls in Africa. This particular case presented a great opportunity for the Malawi judicial system to affirm its commitment to justice for women and girls in Malawi, but it has failed them.”
Aniva, 45, was sentenced on Tuesday after being found guilty of two counts of harmful practices last week.
His case was brought to court after he spoke to the BBC about his role as a “hyena” earlier this year. In parts of southern Malawi, hyenas are paid by families to perform a cleansing sexual ceremony with widows to “exorcise evil spirits”. Parents also pay them to have sex with their adolescent daughters to mark their passage into adulthood.
The charges brought against Aniva related to sex with bereaved widows as none of the younger girls would testify.
Aniva, who pleaded not guilty, told AFP immediately after the sentence: “I am disappointed because I thought I would be given a suspended sentence.”
Judge Innocent Nebi told the court that Aniva “had no regard to the feelings of widows, no regard to dignity of women and it is even doubtful that condoms were used … Such a culture has no place in Malawi.”
Aniva’s lawyers said they would appeal the sentence.
Despite some success in reducing HIV prevalence rates in Malawi, more than 9% of the country’s 15- to 49-year-olds are infected with the virus.
