By Cornwell Mudaala –
BY DEFINITION, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a harmful act directed at an individual based on their gender.
It is not just a health issue but a human rights and developmental challenge that continue to wreck the global village.
Zambia, as a country, has not been spared from the affliction of GBV with women and girls being the most victims.
It is for this reason that Governments around the world including the Zambia Government, together with cooperating partners and like-minded Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), have been working tirelessly to address the adverse impact of GBV.
As cases of GBV are soaring, Government and cooperating partners are escalating the establishment of home grown interventions such as the community led one stop centres to mitigate the vice.
These are centres aimed at making available basic services such as care, psychosocial support, referrals to shelter, legal services, HIV testing, HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and linkage to HIV treatment to the GBV survivors.
President Edgar Lungu says the Government has noted with concern the high number of GBV cases as evidenced by statistics from the Zambia Police Service (ZP) Victim Support Unit (VSU), which has shown that women and children are the major victims.
During the official launch of the Chamuka village led one stop centre, President Lungu said the rise in fresh cases of GBV is of great concern, noting that the vice is not only a health issue but also a major developmental challenge facing the country.
“You have already read the statistics that the country recorded 25, 121 GBV cases in the year 2019 and a total of 26, 370 cases were recorded in the year 2020. This is saddening,” President Lungu said.
E says his Government will, therefore, be failing in its duties if it allows the situation to continue because the result will be counter-productive to both the Seventh National Development Plan and the Vision 2030.
“Eradicating vices related to GBV, therefore, would help the Government, cooperating partners and other stakeholders to focus on developmental projects that will better the living standards for the poor and marginalized people of Zambia especially women and children,” he said.
To effectively deal with the uncouth demeanor of GBV, the Government has undertaken numerous policy legislative, administrative and institutional measures to promote and protect the rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups from the vice in line with international and regional standards.
The Head of State explained to scale up the fight against GBV, the Government has enacted the anti-GBV Act No. 1 of 2011. Other support legislations are the Gender Equity and Equality Act No. 22 of 2015 which provides for the mainstreaming of gender in all spheres of life, the National Child Policy as well as the National Legal Aid Policy of 2018 and the National Gender Policy of 2020.
He noted that the national legal aid policy provides the framework for the provision of legal services and has given formal recognition of the importance of the role paralegals play in providing access to justice for the poor and vulnerable people especially at community level.
The Government is currently reviewing chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia to harmonise it with other laws such as the anti-GBV Act.
“I have no doubt that the measures highlighted and other programmes being implemented by the government, cooperating partners and civil society organisations (CSOs) will help combat GBV,” President Lungu said.
He has since encouraged the stakeholders involved in the village-led one stop centre programme to quicken the formulation of minimum standards or guidelines for the operations of such centres.
However, Mr Lungu is aware that some stakeholders that are being supported by the United Nations (UN) Joint Programme on GBV Phase II are already in the process of finalising the said guidelines which will also form the training of staff who will work in these centres.
“I wish, therefore, to urge the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, and the Ministry of Gender to expedite the formulation of these minimum standards so that there is not much delay between the launch and the commencement of the centre,” he said.
President Lungu was delighted that some traditional leaders were present at the launch of the Chamuka village led one stop centre.
“I am sure that Your Royal Highnesses, you have enjoyed the interaction among yourselves and you have shared valuable ideas and out of that you will be able to communicate to enlighten our communities that a man does not prove his manhood by beating a woman,” he said.
He stated that a man is supposed to love and protect a woman starting with his own mother, sister and finally the wife.
“It is not only cultural but also Biblical. Those who read the Bible will agree with me that we are taught to love, protect and provide for those we love,” he stated.
President Lungu is optimistic that other chiefdoms will embrace the concept of village led one stop centre for the protection of survivors and potential victims of GBV.
United Nations Resident Coordinator, Coumba Mar Gadio congratulated chief Chamuka for the establishment of the Chamuka village led one stop centre.
“On behalf of the United Nations family, I wish to congratulate His Royal Highness Chief Chamuka for the establishment of the centre which is one of the interventions by the Government of the Republic of Zambia and United Nations Joint Programme on GBV Phase II coordinated by the Ministry of Gender,” Dr Mar Gadio said.
According to Dr Mar Gadio, the Chamuka village led one stop centre has come at an opportune time when the Government and its partners continue to address the escalating numbers of GBV cases in the country.
She says GBV is a global problem that has not spared Zambia adding that the 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) shows that one in two women has experienced GBV often from their husbands or partners.
Regrettably, she notes that half of girls and women experiencing GBV do not seek services for the violence they have suffered.
She stated that the ZDHS also show that over time, Zambia has made progress in reducing physical, sexual and emotional violence experienced by girls and women.
Dr. Mar Gadio, however, says half of Zambian girls and women are still affected by violence hence the need for enhanced concerted efforts to ensure that the gains made by the country are sustained.
She stresses that the UN in Zambia’s work position is to support the Government and the people to address GBV and achieve Sustainable Development Goal (MDG) number five on gender equality.
“We have a collective mandate of UN agencies which have protection and empowerment of women and girls, central to their programmes that support the government in implementing its vision,” she said.
She added, “I take cognizant of the fact that His Excellency, President Lungu is the African Union champion against child marriage which demonstrates his personal commitment towards ending child marriage in Zambia and in Africa as a whole.”
“And if I may, Your Excellency on behalf of the UN Zambia, we want to nominate you our champion on increasing women’s participation and prevent violence against women during the elections.”
She says the village based one stop centre, therefore, provides an alternative cost effective method of delivering comprehensive anti-GBV services at the lowest level of service delivery.
“These centres have proved effective in providing services such as awareness creation, counselling, paralegal advice and referral services among others,” she said.
Swedish Ambassador to Zambia, Anna Maj Hultgard, observed that GBV continues to be a threat to the quality of lives of many women and girls as well as men and boys.
Ms Hultgard, who spoke on behalf of other cooperating partners on the occasion of the official launch of the Chamuka village led one stop centre at chief Chamuka’s palace, said reports indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and other related challenges have also contributed to the increasing incidents of GBV.
She has since pledged sustained corporate support to the Government in the fight against GBV and the provision of corporate response whenever and wherever this violence occurs.
“As cooperating partners we remain committed to supporting efforts to prevent GBV and provide cooperate response whenever and wherever this violence occurs,” she stated.
Ambassador Hultgard said fighting GBV and ensuring women’s security remains a priority for the Swedish Government.
She further urged the Zambian government to ensure that violence against women does not prevent them from contesting elections or participating in the election process, including voting.
The big part of the support from cooperating partners is to ensure that GBV prevention and response services are as close to the people as possible.
Ms Hultgard said the village-led one stop centre is intended to provide coordinated care to GBV survivors in terms of health, psychosocial, legal and referral services to other line institutions.
The fight against GBV is far from being won. It is therefore incumbent upon global Governments, cooperating partners and CSOs to heighten interventions aimed at eradicating the vice and other related challenges.
Other chiefdoms in Zambia should emulate chief Chamuka by lobbying for the creation of village-led one stop centres, because GBV exists in all parts of the country. – ZANIS
