Violence Against Women
Source: All Africa
Cases of gender-based violence in Southern Province went up during the first two quarters of this year, provincial police chief Lemmy Kajoba has said.
Mr Kajoba said the province registered 46 cases of defilement in the second quarter compared to 40 in the first quarter while rape cases stood at 11 in the second quarter, compared to nine cases in the first quarter of 2011.
He said 72 cases of spouse battery were recorded during the second quarter of this year compared to 66 cases recorded in the first quarter.
Mr Kajoba was speaking in Livingstone yesterday during the opening of the newly-enacted Anti-Gender Based Violence Act sensitisation workshop for Victim Support Unit (VSU) officers at Fairmount Hotel.
The workshop, which has been initiated by the Gender in Development Division (GIDD), Ministry of Justice and the police command, is being attended by various VSU officers from Southern, Eastern, Western and Lusaka provinces.
Mr Kajoba said if unreported, gender-based violence cases were considered in the province, the figures would even go up.
"May I take this opportunity to remind you that the issues of gender-based violence have taken centre stage worldwide.
"As officers who have been entrusted with this responsibility, I urge you to take this workshop very seriously. We expect you to sensitise other officers once you get back to your respective stations," Mr Kajoba said.
At the same function, Southern Province Deputy Permanent Secretary Alfred Chingi said 52 per cent of women aged between 15 to 49 years reported that they had experienced either physical or sexual violence, according to the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey of 2007.
Mr Chingi, who represented both GIDD and Southern Province permanent secretaries at the meeting, said the enactment of the Anti-Gender Based Violence Act was a welcome development because it would help to guide the handling of such cases.
He said the workshop would help sensitise VSU officers on the contents of the Act, build capacity among officers for effective enforcement of the Act and sensitise officers on human rights in general among others.