GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN ZAMBIA: THE INEFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF THE ANTI-GENDER BASED VIOLENCE ACT OF 2011

Abstract

Every person has the right to human rights because they were created in the image of God. They can be cited as moral assurances. Due to the horrors committed during the Second World War, a number of human rights have been evolved since then. Since then, a number of parties, including nations, have started to recognize the importance of human rights and have started to promote and protect them. The promotion and preservation of women's rights, which are recognized as a vulnerable category, has been a major focus of UN efforts to advance human rights around the world. A number of laws were passed to safeguard women because they were thought to be the weaker sex in comparison to their male counterparts, hence the enactment of various pieces of legislation to protect them. In pursuance of this, the Zambian Parliament on April 15th 2011enacted the Anti-Gender Based Violence Act. An Act to provide for the protection of victims of gender based violence; constitute the Anti- Gender-Based Violence Committee and establish the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Fund. Furthermore, Parliament enacted the Gender Equity and Equality Act No. 22 of 2015.Despite the enactment of the Anti-Based Violence Act of 2011 and other laws to curb gender based violence, Zambia continues to experience alarming levels of gender based violence. These include spouse battery, murder, sexual exploitation, rape, defilement, incest, forced prostitution, sexual harassment, sexual cleansing, early marriages and other forms of violence. In the first quarter of 2022 6,915 cases of Gender Based Violence were reported countrywide compared to 4,254 recorded in the first quarter of 2021 showing an increase of 2,661 cases translating to a 62.5%.