ALL stakeholders who purport to be concerned about the continued rise in the number of defilement and related cases should heed to the frantic cry of Justice Ireen Mambilima who has acutely noted that long custodial sentences have failed to curb the scourge which is seemingly on the rise.
We join her in solidarity by agreeing with her that harsh jail sentences against sexual offenders have not helped to reduce the number of defilement cases in the country.
She noted that instead the number of defilement and other sex-related cases were increasing despite the long jail sentences which have not brought relief to the prevalence of defilement and related offences.
Is this not a clear indication that deterrence has not worked as it should? Let us look for other interventions on how we can effectively protect our society from sex offenders.
Ms Justice Mambilima said that the Judiciary was aware that the most significant number of long-term inmates were in prison for sexual offences of defilement, rape and indecent assault.
She added that the courts have continued to pass long-term sentences with a minimum of 15 years because that was mandatory.
However, she bemoaned the fact that the Zambian prisons with the initial capacity of holding 8,000 inmates now housed nearly 20,000 of them, leading to congestion.
This calls for a speedy intervention to both reduce the number of defilements and also reduce congestion caused by the record number of convicted defilers and other sexually-related cases.
Since the country is teeming with several NGOs concerned about the increase of defilement cases, we feel the Judiciary has done its part and needs massive assistance from other stakeholders to come up with a lasting solution to this scourge.
We are calling on research to finger-point the major culprit to address this problem that calls for a multi-pronged approach to make our womenfolk safe.
Is it the witch-doctors who are at the center of the problem that has been partially attributed to rituals that demand someone sleeps with an under-age girl?
Is it the provocative dressing and dying morals that is to blame for the influx of defilement cases that has made young girls a hunted species?
Or is it just a penchant among some incorrigible crime-prone people to defile and rape our womenfolk?
Government or any concerned NGO needs to carry out an extensive research to come up with causes before prisons choke further with convicted defilers who mock their lengthy sentences by re-offending.
Historically, there is a template on how killings were handled by the State in the second republic.
The authorities instituted what was called the anti-robbery squad that killed a number of dangerous criminals both on the Copperbelt and Midlands.
The result was an immediate reduction in crime. Though some people condemned the methods used, many agreed that the end justified the means.
Though we are not advocating for such extreme measures, we are calling on all concerned parties to join heads  and find a lasting solutions beyond punitive measures which have been found wanting.
For NGOs, we are calling on them to spare the money intended for workshops and other expenses to channel it to research since it will be irrational to continue harping on the problem instead of finding a solution.
They say madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results.