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Zambia: Fight Against Gender Violence
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The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
EDITORIAL
20 February 2008
Posted to the web 20 February 2008
Ndola
VIOLENCE against women has surprisingly taken an upward turn to what is now alarming propositions demanding drastic remedial measures.
This is despite vigorous campaigns by women and men's lobby groups on the barbarism of gender violence, which unfortunately has claimed a number of lives over the last few weeks.
In the past week alone, two women have died at the hands of their husbands in Kazungula, Southern Province and Ndola, respectively, while another, heavily-pregnant for that matter, was shot in the stomach in Chingola.
There have been other incidents of women being burnt by their spouses and others clobbered, forcing Zambia to join the international community and condemn this inhuman treatment.
All these incidents have bordered on broken-down marriages and relationships for which spouses have failed to find solutions.
This is worrying not only for the Government, which through various programmes is trying to raise awareness on gender violence.
President Mwanawasa has also added his voice to the worrying levels of gender violence.
The President, addressing women and men who participated in the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence in November last year, said the Government was worried about the negative effects gender violence had on society and the economy.
As a result, the Government was planning to enact laws and domesticate international conventions against gender-based violence. This is welcome and the earlier, the better.
For women, although they have started hitting back, they have always been on the receiving end.
Where a woman complains about violence in a home, their lives have ended up in jeopardy.
That is why many have kept quiet and, in some instances, the violence has escalated, leading to loss of life.
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While we appeal to men to look at violence against women as primitive, we urge the Government to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure that women live their lives and enjoy all their human rights and liberties.
It will, therefore, be important to strengthen legislation governing gender violence, as one arm of fighting it, while at the same time sensitising men.
It is a basic issue, violence against women is barbaric, primitive and has no place in modern society.
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