4 December 2007
Ndola — SPEAKER of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa says gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS are interlinked as their major cause is mostly unequal gender relations influenced by social and cultural factors.
Mr Mwanamwambwa said this during the commemoration of the World AIDS Day and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence in Lusaka yesterday.
The commemorations were for National Assembly members of staff.
He explained that where there was gender-based violence, women were too powerless to protect themselves from unsafe sex and, therefore, vulnerable to men.
He said efforts should be made to explain the relationship between gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS.
Mr Mwanamwambwa said this could be achieved by mainstreaming gender relations in reproductive health and strengthening laws on gender violence.
If the laws were strengthened, Mr Mwanamwambwa envisaged the elimination of gender-based violence, saying women and children who were often times subjected to violence would be protected.
"The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is a period used to create a solidarity movement that raises awareness around gender-based violence as a human rights abuse.
"This awareness movement works to ensure better protection of survivors of violence and calls for the elimination of all forms of violence against women," Mr Mwanamwambwa said.
He said any violence against women and children was a violation of human rights which should not be condoned.
Mr Mwanamwambwa said the fight against gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS should be vigorously fought by the various stakeholders.
He said HIV/AIDS policies at places of work should be launched, saying workers should also be free to go for VCT.
At the National Assembly, for instance, 40 peer educators underwent training in June 2004.
He said the training they underwent included nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS and the enhancement of dialogue among the various stakeholders.
"At the National Assembly we have implemented not only the HIV/AIDS workplace policy but other tangible programmes.
"On 24 November 2006 we had an AIDS awareness meeting for staff and their spouses," Mr Mwanamwambwa said.
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Gender-Based Violence Also Impedes Zambian Women's HIV Treatment - and the National Assembly Should do Something About it.
by Nada Mustafa Ali, PhD Africa Researcher at the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch alin@hrw.org
I would like to commend Mr. Mwanamwaba's and the Zambia National Assembly's emphasis on the links between gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. Gender-based violence not only increases women's vulnerability and inability to protect themselvs from unsafe sex, it can also impede women's ability to access and continue using life-saving HIV treatment. Research that we conducted in Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces in Zambia earlier this year revealed clearly how violence against women within the household, as well as women's insecure property rights such as property grabbing and the possible loss of property upon divorce under customary laws clearly obstructed the ability of many women to benefit from Zambia's HIV treatment programs.
It is good that the speaker of the National Assembly is stressing the need to strengthen the laws on gender-based violence; and the National Assembly should translate this into action by passing a specific law that tackles sexual and gender-based violence as the provisions in Zambia's criminal law is inadequate to tackle sexual and gender-based violence.
Women's rights organizations in Zambia have been campaigning for several years now toward legal reform and a specific law on gender-based violence.
Zambia also needs to introduce specfic measures in the health system, especially in healthcare facilities providing HIV treatment, so these facilities can detect and respond to gender-based violence and the way it impedes treatment.
Of course, this should be part of an overall stratey to address gender inequality in Zambia.
Nada Mustafa Ali