Elimination and Prevention of all forms of Violence against Women and Girls is placed high on Malawi's development agenda. The Government of Malawi reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1880 and 1890, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa; the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality, and the SADC Gender and Development Protocol among others.

Malawi has domesticated the international instruments to promote gender equality and women's empowerment through the Constitution which has enshrined the bill of rights in Chapter 4 and it states that violence against women is an evil that needs to be eradicated in the society

The Malawi Parliament passed the Gender Equality Bill into law to strengthen the operationalization of CEDAW. The Act offers a protective mechanism towards the violation of the rights of females and outlines explicitly the areas under which discrimination, harmful cultural practices and sexual harassment are prohibited among others.