In the African nation of Zambia, gender-based violence and discrimination greatly disadvantage women. Women’s rights in Zambia play an important role in combating poverty and discrimination in the country. Nonprofit and grassroots organizations have stepped in to fight for women’s rights in Zambia. These organizations are working to make Zambia a more fair and equal society for women and girls.
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The State of Women’s Rights
According to a 2007 countrywide Demographic Health Survey, nearly 50% “of all women had experienced physical violence since they were 15” - a rate much higher than the World Health Organization’s worldwide estimate of 30%. Among Zambian women who had experienced physical abuse, 77% reported that the abuse came from a former or current partner.
The victim support unit of the Zambia Police Service reported 5,040 cases of gender-based violence in the first quarter of 2020.
Zambian women also face discrimination in employment and land ownership. A 2011 survey reported that 60% of women aged 15-49 had jobs compared to nearly 100% of men. Many of the employed women reported that their positions were unpaid. Furthermore, women with paid employment typically earned less than their male counterparts.
Discrimination, financial barriers and cultural norms make land ownership very difficult for women. Many women have less wealth than men, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, in traditional marriages, it is still not customary for men and women to have equal rights of ownership.
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Organizations Championing Women's Rights
Several organizations are dedicated to advancing women's rights and empowerment in Zambia.
The Zambia Alliance of Women
Founded in 1978, the Zambia Alliance of Women (ZAW) seeks to provide support for women in the aspects of agriculture and land ownership. The organization currently has 3,000 members and operates in seven regions throughout Zambia.
The ZAW ‘s mission is to support women in accessing land and agricultural education and teach them sustainable agricultural practices. Some of these projects include the Women Caucus on Climate Smart Agriculture program funded by the African Women Development Fund. The organization has spearheaded many other projects that empower Zambian women in the field of agriculture.
Women and Law Southern Africa
Women and Law Southern Africa (WLSA) is a nonprofit operating in several countries in Southern Africa. The WLSA was founded in 1989 by a group of female lecturers from several universities in the southern region of Africa. The organization uses education and research to advocate for the reform of legislation that unfairly impacts the lives of women and girls.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that some of the key issues the WLSA works to address are “inheritance, maintenance, family law, justice delivery systems and gender violence.” The Zambian sector of the organization has worked with Zambia’s government to lobby for law and policy reform to support women’s rights.
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The Zambia National Women’s Lobby
The Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) seeks to affect change through the involvement of women in government. Established in 1991, the ZNWL advocates for women’s representation in parliament and other political structures. For example, in 2008, its Men’s Network Project collected more than 5,000 men’s signatures for a petition to make sexual intercourse with a child under 16 a non-bailable offense. The petition was later presented to members of the Zambian parliament.
The ZNWL also received a grant award of $25,000 from the United States Embassy in 2014. The grant is part of the embassy’s Full Participation Fund, which raises awareness about the importance of women’s involvement in government.
Women for Change Zambia
Established in 1992, Women for Change Zambia (WFC) strives to improve conditions in rural communities by empowering women and girls. One of its top priorities is education. WFC works to re-enroll teenage girls in school and prevent others from dropping out due to early marriage, pregnancy or other preventable reasons. The organization also works with parents and teachers in order to provide girls who return to school with as much support as possible.
UNDP and Gender Equality
UNDP is dedicated to making gender equality a reality across all the 170 countries and territories we work in. UNDP Zambia integrates the gender equality principles across all our programmatic areas: Strategic Policy Development, Gender and Governance, Inclusive Growth, and Energy and Environment.
UNDP recognize that gender equality and women empowerment is vital to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which envisions a world that upholds respect for human rights and human dignity. A world in which all forms of legal, social and economic barriers to their development have been removed.
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UNDP acknowledge that the factors influencing women’s ability to take up leadership are experienced throughout their life course and such, in the Zambian context, gender inequalities are strongly linked to SDGs including 1 (No poverty), 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good Health and wellbeing), 4 (quality education) and 5 (gender equality).
While is evident that women working in the Zambian health sector have few opportunities to grow their educational and professional skills due to limited access to supportive networks and professional platforms that can support their growth as future leaders, we wish to contribute to changing this through chapter activities, coordinated through taskforces, namely; research, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy, media and communications and training and capacity building.
Challenges and Progress
Globally, some progress on women’s rights has been achieved. However, work still needs to be done in Zambia to achieve gender equality. As of Dec-20, only 41.8% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in particular: unpaid care and domestic work, key labour market indicators, such as the gender pay gap and information and communications technology skills.
In addition, many areas - such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual harassment, women’s access to assets (including land), and gender and the environment - lack comparable methodologies for regular monitoring. The adolescent birth rate is 134.6 per 1,000 women aged 15-19 as of 2017, up from 3.07 per 1,000 in 2016.
The restrictions that the pandemic brought, confining people in their homes, greatly contributed to a rise in domestic and gender-based violence (GBV). The pandemic also led to many businesses closing. Many of those were informal businesses dedicated to planning events or catering, thrift clothes shops, restaurants and marketplace stalls. Many were owned and run by women.
At the start of the pandemic schools closed, leading to an increase in rape cases of girls staying at home. By the time schools reopened, many girls couldn’t go back because they were either pregnant or getting married, while others simply dropped out.
According to African Impact, only about 31 per cent of girls in Zambia finish primary school, and only eight per cent complete secondary school. Low levels of literacy make girls more vulnerable as they grow into women. This also contributes to a lack of financial independence, which in turn makes women more susceptible to GBV. Limited education means limited access to business opportunities and funding. Many women are not able to draft a business plan, which is required to get a loan. Most lending institutions also require collateral, which most women don’t have, as they typically don’t own property.
There is a cultural trend for women to get just the bare minimum level of education and then become homemakers. Civil society works with government and communities to tackle these issues and bridge these gaps.
Many CSOs, including WingEd Girls, support girls in different ways so they stay in school. We have a project to train girls to make reusable pads. The Salvation Army drills boreholes and builds toilets in rural schools. Copper Rose Zambia teaches girls about menstrual hygiene management and sensitises women on GBV and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Other CSOs, such as Africa Leadership Legacy, help women acquire business, financial and leadership skills.
As GBV rose, church bodies and CSOs such as Zambia National Women’s Lobby have called on the government to take quick action. The government responded by promising it would establish fast-track courts for GBV cases, put in place policies and legislation to combat GBV and build shelters for GBV victims within communities.
To keep girls in schools, the government has recently included funding in the national budget to distribute sanitary towels in all schools across the country. But this has not made civil society stop its own work in that regard. To support female-led households, the government has partnered with the World Bank.
Through a World Bank-funded project, Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood, it will help women access seed money to start businesses and access farm inputs.
Initiatives and Policies
The status of women in Zambia has improved in recent years. Among other things, the maternal mortality rate has dropped and the National Assembly of Zambia has enacted multiple policies aimed at decreasing violence against women. However, progress is still needed.
The Government of Zambia has instituted multiple policies to improve access to contraceptives and family planning services. The use of modern contraceptives among women in Zambia has reached 45% as of 2014. Injectables are the most commonly used form of contraceptives, followed by implants and pills. However, lack of access to contraceptives is still high among girls in child marriages, and there is a significant difference in access to contraceptives across class and geographic boundaries.
Despite being legalized in 1972 through the Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion remains a controversial subject in Zambia. Christian churches have considerable political influence in Zambia, and the Catholic Church protested the passing of the bill in 1972. In 1991, President Frederick Chiluba declared Zambia a Christian nation. Following this, the discussion of abortion became taboo. However, the number of unsafe abortions performed in Zambia remains high.
The Government of Zambia has instituted several policies and programs intended to reduce the number of annual HIV infections and provide support for those living with HIV/AIDS. A significant portion of the Zambian population has been exposed to radio and television programming on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.
Both the quality and distance of water and sanitation facilities significantly impacts women's wellbeing. Violence against women occurs in a variety of forms in Zambia. Domestic violence is a significant issue in Zambia. Child marriage is very common in Zambia.
Zambia has a dual legal system, and statutory and customary law in the country conflict on the issue of child marriage. The Government of Zambia passed the Anti-Human Trafficking Act in 2008. The Act establishes the Committee on Human Trafficking and the Human Trafficking Fund, as well as outlines victim support services.
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