The Zambian government has implored prosecution authorities in Southern Africa to explore innovative practices and identify non-traditional partners to support the fight against gender-based-violence (GBV).
Minister of Community Development and Social Services, Ms. Doreen Mwamba made the call today in Livingstone when she officiated at the first ever Southern Africa Heads of Prosecution (SAHOP) meeting under the theme “Innovative Criminal Justice Practices: Strengthening Regional Collaboration to Combat Gender-Based-Violence,”.
The Minister observed that criminal justice institutions such as the prosecution authorities are key in fighting gender-based-violence, a deeply rooted vice which stems from the historically established gender inequality and imbalanced social power between men and women.
Ms Mwamba however acknowledged the frequent challenges prosecution authorities face in the delivery of fair justice outcomes for women and girls despite Southern Africa having adapted laws prohibiting and criminalizing GBV.
“It is quite clear that prosecution of GBV remains elusive due to many factors that present critical barriers to the SADC region. This is the moment to stand up against gender-based-violence, cement our commitments and actions towards response and elimination of the vice”, Ms Mwamba further said.
She therefore noted with optimism that Zambia has prioritized prevention of GBV in its quests to ensure robust advocacy and engagements with communities, traditional leaders and religious leaders to dismantle norms that perpetuate the subordination of women to men.
Ms Mwamba highlighted other key achievements such as free education, free health care, enhanced provision of social protection, policy and legal reforms which include the revision of the Gender Policy, amendment of the Marriage Act, enactment of the Children’s Code Act and the Anti- Gender-Based Violence Act.
And Southern Province High Court Judge, Hon. Justice Catherine Lombe equally acknowledged that GBV is not merely a domestic crime, but a regional emergency requiring a regional response, grounded in justice, partnership, and resilience.
“While we often focus on the moral and legal implications as we must, the economic and social costs are equally staggering as GBV drains public health systems, undermines productivity, fractures families, and places a long-term burden on criminal justice institutions”, Justice Lombe further emphasized.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Southern Africa regional Representative, Dr Jane Marie Ongolo, reiterated that Gender-based violence is a crisis that transcends national borders, undermines human dignity, erodes the social fabric of communities, and remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally which requires regional collaboration to address through harnessed innovation, collaboration, and collective resolve.
And Zambia’s Director of Public Prosecution Dr Gilbert Phiri encouraged all heads of prosecution agencies to adopt a paradigm shift in the manner the criminal justice system has traditionally operated in the region which faces the highest levels of prevalence globally and home to about 37% of all HIV-infected persons in the world, accounting for 33% of all AIDS deaths worldwide.
