Zinenani Majawa
Zinenani Majawa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Majawa in 2025 | |
| Occupations | sex worker and activist |
| Known for | executive director of Malawi's Female Sex Workers Association |
| Children | 1 |
Zinenani Lucy Majawa is the founder and executive director of Malawi's Female Sex Workers Association (FSWA). During the COVID-19 pandemic she led protests at the government's disregard for the sex-worker's livelihoods. She has been Malawi's Civil Society Advocacy Forum's elected representative with regard to AIDS and HIV related funding.
Life
Majawa is a sex worker and the founder and executive director of Malawi's Female Sex Workers Association (FSWA). She has a son and her work supports the two of them and his education.[1]
Activism
Although sex work is not illegal in Malawi, the police arrested sex workers under charges such as the "rogue and vagabond law," which allowed arrests based on the suspicion that a person is doing something illegal.[2] This law was declared unconstitutional in January 2017.[3] Police also use a law which makes it illegal to live on the profits of prostitution. This law was intended to protect sex workers from being exploited but it is redirected at them.[2] Majawa said they use a Idle and Disorderly law. They are arrested and fined and the police do not give them a receipt for the fine.[3]
The Women's Lawyers Association was one of the groups who supported the Minister of Health, Atupele Muluzi, who persuaded parliament to de-criminalise the transmission of HIV in December 2017. This included protests by Majawa of the Female Sex Workers Association. The FSWA said they had 120,000 members.[4] They argued the law was based on fear and not on logic, and that the law's continued existence increased violence against women.[5] UNICEF had noted in 2017 that teenagers in Malawi were being driven to sell sex because of the droughts and poor harvests.[6]
In 2020, Majawa was a member of the Malawi Global Fund Coordinating Committee. She was also one of 15 members of the Malawi Civil Society National Reference Group, which was established in 2019 to counter violence against women. The other members included Esmie Tembenu, Esther Bonyonga, Barbra Banda, Chief Mlolo and Beatrice Mateyo Mkanda.[7]
In 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Malawi, Majawa and the Female Sex Workers Association (FSWA) organised protests regarding restrictions on human contact. Majawa argued that while the precautions would not be applied to married couples, they would be used by the police to restrict the ability of sex workers to make a living.[8] She led a protest in Lilongwe where sex-workers were demanding that bars should be allowed to open more freely. They took a petition to the council offices. Majawa said that their work had been affected by COVID-19 and these drinking establishments were their offices.[9] They had rooms over the bars and the police would arrive and beat them. In February following a protest the FSWA was offered a loan at a meeting with the office of the President and the Cabinet to compensate then for the bars closing early. However Majawa reported to the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) that the procedure was so complex that by August they had not seen any money - but the bars still close.[10]
She stood down in 2022 as Malawi's Civil Society Advocacy Forum's elected representative on the Malawi Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism which negotiated funding for HIV and AIDS prevention. She was succeeded by Lawrence Phiri and he lauded her integrity and steadfastness.[11]
References
- ↑ ITPC Global (2016-05-23). Zinenani Majawa Story - Key Population Financing Programme. Archived from the original on 2026-08-03. Retrieved 2026-07-16 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 "Protecting Malawi's sex workers from police: 'They say we're sinners' – Decriminalise Poverty & Status". Archived from the original on 2026-07-16. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
- 1 2 "Topping support for sex workers rights". Nation Online. 2018-06-10. Archived from the original on 2026-07-16. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "Malawi rights bodies defy criminalising the transmission of HIV: Bill deeply flawed". Nyasa Times. 2017-11-02. Archived from the original on 2026-07-16. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
- ↑ "Malawi MPs adopt amended law that removes criminalizing transmission of HIV". The Maravi Post. 2 Dec 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ↑ "Africa highlights: Thursday 24 August 2017 as it happened". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2026-07-16. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "SPOTLIGHT INITIATIVE BULLETIN" (PDF). Spotlight Initiative Bulletin (one): 18. July 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2026-03-01. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
- ↑ Pensulo, Charles (2021-01-30). "Malawi sex workers protest at 'targeted police brutality' after Covid-19 curfew". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
- ↑ Chikoti, Martha (2021-01-28). "Malawi sex workers march in Lilongwe". Malawi24. Archived from the original on 2026-07-16. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "Using communities' creativity to change the cultural practices that violate bodily autonomy and integrity" (PDF). AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) Case Study. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
- ↑ "CSAF endorses Lawrence Phiri as representative for HIV and Aids key populations in Malawi". Malawiana Times. 2022-07-26. Archived from the original on 2026-05-12. Retrieved 2026-08-02.