‘Law enforcement key to ending GBV’

IMPLEMENTATION of laws and policies on sexual and gender-based violence is key in fighting the vice says the Levy Mwanawasa Regional Centre for democracy and good governance (LMRC).

Speaking at a workshop on the implementation of laws and policies on sexual genderbased violence in Lusaka, LMRC Executive Director Dr Frank Okuthe said that laws and policies should be put in place to fight sexual and gender based violence in Zambia.

Dr Okuthe said that sex and gender-based violence was a great concern across the globe including the Great Lakes Region.

He said that the challenge of sex and gender-based violence was discussed during the ordinary summit of heads of state and government of the International conference on the great lakes region.

Dr Okuthe said that the heads of states recognised that respect for human rights and empowerment of women rights protection were among the best guarantees against threats to peace, political stability and development.

“The statistics in Zambia are worrying in that in 2016 the country recorded 18,540 cases of sex and gender based vilence while 18,088 cases were reported in 2015 this represents a 24 percent increase in the number of reported cases and these just represent those cases that were reported, implying that there could be other cases,” he said.

And Ministry of Gender permanent secretary Dr. Felix Phiri said that Zambia was committed to eradicating gender-based violence.

In a speech read by ministry’s acting director Simon Kapilima, Dr Phiri said that government was relooking the anti-GBV Act to identify what was missing in the Act to effectively fight GBV.

He, however, said that the ministry’s mandate was vast as already existing legislation provides for gender based violence and not just sexual gender based violence.