.Luo

By CHARITY MOONGA –
MINISTER of Higher Education Nkandu Luo has called for laws to address rape in the matrimonial bedroom, saying it is a big part of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
Professor Luo said time had come to enact an Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill that would strengthen the law on marital rape, a serious form of GBV that was not getting as much attention as other types.
She called for a private member’s motion to be presented to Parliament for the strengthening of the law on GBV with special emphasis on rape in the matrimonial bedroom, defilement and early marriages.
Prof Luo was speaking last weekend during a meeting with members of Parliament (MPs) on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights  (SRHR) issues.
“The issue of anti-GBV is too wide and the truth is that we are not focusing on the real issues as a country. Many women continue to suffer because of marital rape and no one seems to pay attention to this type of GBV,” she said.
She said that it was important for Zambia to come up with a legislation that took it into account all the various faces and guises under which gender-based violence presented itself in different circumstances, including marital rape that had largely gone un-discussed.
“The issue of marriage rape is also a big problem. Let us reflect and agree on how we will be able to deal with all these issues of rape,” she said.
Prof Luo further called for measures that would also address the issue of HIV as a sexual reproductive health problem with a social connotation.
She explained that the HIV/AIDS issue needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“In universities and colleges, the problem is big. This is because whether we like it or not, our children are engaging in sex at a very tender age and by the time they get in universities and colleges, the situation is worse,” she said.
She called for the strengthening of SRHR to ensure that girls focus on school.
Prof Luo further admonished mission owned learning institutions for only expelling girls who fell pregnant and leaving out the boys that were responsible for those pregnancies.
“What about the boys? You leave them and yet you send the girls back home. This is so unfair,” she said.
She explained that nowadays it had become easier to identify parentage of a child hence people should take advantage of such innovations.
She explained that the University of Zambia (UNZA had already partnered with one organisation to support SRHR issues and Government was trying to identify another organisation which could work with the Copperbelt University in that area.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) deputy representative Chinwe Ogbonna said her organisation appreciated the role  MPs played in  dealing with issues of SRHR.
The meeting was organized by UNFPA, National Assembly of Zambia, UKaid and the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia .
The strategic engagement was held with MPs in the committees of Health, Gender, Youth, and Financing and the overall objective was to reflect on prior dialogues held with MPs through various oversight, law making, budgetary, representational and outreach actions and further engagements in 2018 and beyond.