Advocacy win: MSI Malawi supports court ruling in favor of abortion rights for rape survivors
November 4, 2025
The High Court of Malawi ruled in favor of a 14-year-old rape survivor who was denied safe abortion services by a Ministry of Health facility.
Abortion is restricted in Malawi, permitted only to save a pregnant woman’s life. Women can face up to 7 years in prison for having an abortion, and providers could face 14 years for performing an “unlawful” abortion. However, this recent ruling clearly states that the provider and the Ministry of Health were negligent for failing to provide the abortion service and for not offering clear guidance on how to manage adolescent pregnancy as a result of violence.
The ruling cites that Malawi’s Gender Equality Act, which calls on the state to provide abortion access, should respect sexual and reproductive health and rights. This expands the legal provisions for abortion from ‘save a life’ to also include access for adolescent SGBV survivors.
BLM supported this ruling by partnering with the Nyale institute, a local organization, and by providing organizational strengthening with funding from CIFF. They facilitated media training on abortion reporting for journalists, supporting communications and messaging strategies, and conducting opposition mapping and planning surrounding the case. This not only drove advocacy efforts but also increased public awareness of safe abortion rights through the media.
BLM will now work on an accessible explainer of the 82-page ruling to share with service providers and advocates. The advocacy team are also working on next steps to build on this success and leverage new political support from the newly elected government who have indicated support for reproductive health and rights. This is a significant step on the road to decriminalisation.
Following this win, BLM’s Senior Marketing and Advocacy Manager Simeon Thodi has written an article titled ‘SRHR priorities for the President’ in Malawi’s leading newspaper. This was well received and has resulted in Simeon being invited to lead a civil society delegation to discuss reproductive health challenges with the health minister and hopefully influence positive changes to be made by the government.
BLM’s successful advocacy efforts demonstrate the critical supporting role MSI can play in influencing positive governmental changes to reproductive rights in our country programs.
