University of Livingstonia (Unilia) says it will tackle the issue of ‘sexually transmitted grades’ where female students are rewarded with good grades for offering sexual services to lecturers.

The intervention will be part of this year’s International Women’s Day, commemoration which falls on March 7.

Unilia, Students Union Speaker, Tanaka Chirombo, told Mana Wednesday that the event, dubbed ‘HerDay Unila’, has been organised because issues of sexually transmitted grades is becoming a huge problem.

“It’s a huge problem as there is so much silence from the students on these issues due to fear of being withdrawn from school.

“We will have a number of activities including a public lecture and debate on the issue of sexually transmitted grades in Malawi. We will also introduce the She Decides and He4She concepts,” he said.

Chirombo said the event would see the launch of Unilia Student Staff Policy and promote awareness on how best female students could utilize their rights to overcome various abuses.

Founder and Executive Director for Mzuzu E-Hub, Wangiwe Kambuzi said HerDay Unilia comes in handy at a time when Malawian societies celebrate women and their contribution towards socioeconomic development.

“I expect to see more young women at the event and i hope they will get insipired to face the odds and work on bettering themselves,” she said.

Kambuzi said the issue of sexually transmitted grades could end only if students are well equipped on how to fight for their rights.

“We need to educate students on their rights for them to speak out if they find themselves in such situations,” she added.

This year’s global theme for International Women’s Day celebrations is “I Am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”.

Source:Mana