VI. SHORTCOMINGS AND RISK FACTORS WITHIN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

International Law

Zambia is a party to many major U.N. human rights treaties¹⁴⁷ as well as the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. Zambia signed the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 1992, but has not ratified it.¹⁴⁸ By ratifying these international human rights instruments, Zambia has committed itself to protecting a broad range of civil, political, economic and social rights that if enforced would protect the rights of persons directly or indirectly affected by AIDS.

In 1985, Zambia ratified CEDAW, which calls upon public authorities and institutions to "pursue a policy of eliminating [sex] discrimination."¹⁴⁹ Zambia in 1997 signed the Gender and Development Declaration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in which the government pledged to "take urgent measures to prevent and deal with the increasing levels of violence against women and children."¹⁵⁰ Still, most efforts to address gender violence emanate not from the government but from NGOs and other civil society groups. Although the government has made progress in reforming statutory law by removing overtly discriminatory laws, discrimination against women continues under customary law in particular, legitimized by statutory law in the Local Courts Act (see below).

The Convention on the Rights of the Child contains provisions to protect children from abuse and exploitation. Article 2 requires states to take all appropriate measures to ensure that children are protected from discrimination. Article 19 requires state parties to take all appropriate measures to protect children from "all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child." Article 24 recognizes the right of children to enjoy "the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health." Article 32 recognizes the right of children "to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development." Article 34 requires states to undertake to protect children "from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse," and in particular take all appropriate measures to prevent "(a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; (b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices."¹⁵¹

International human rights law does not address HIV/AIDS directly, but protections against abuses associated with HIV/AIDS are included in numerous international conventions. In 1998, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS issued "HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines," which provide a roadmap for governments seeking to incorporate human rights protections related to HIV/AIDS into national law. The guidelines cover a range of issues, including the need for legislation to address public health issues related to HIV/AIDS, reviewing and reforming criminal laws to ensure they are consistent with international obligations and do not target vulnerable groups, protection against discrimination, and eliminating violence against women, including harmful traditional practices, sexual abuse and exploitation.¹⁵² In June 2001, the U.N. General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS resulted in a Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS that included strong language on the need to integrate the rights of women and girls into the global struggle against HIV/AIDS.¹⁵³

According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the independent panel of experts that monitors rights under the ICESCR, the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health includes the right to information and education concerning prevailing health problems, their prevention and their control.¹⁵⁴ The CRC specifically requires states parties "[t]o ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health."¹⁵⁵ The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, recognizing the importance of access to information, interprets the right to health to include the "right to seek, receive and impart information concerning health issues."¹⁵⁶ In addition, the committee advises that states have a legal obligation to refrain from "censoring, withholding or intentionally misrepresenting health-related information, including sexual education information."¹⁵⁷

National Law

The Zambian Constitution guarantees a wide range of rights, including prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex.¹⁵⁸ The Penal Code prohibits virtually all the abuses associated with sexual violence, coercion, and discrimination documented in this report. The reality of enforcement, however, is entirely different: bias against the victims, endemic problems of the criminal justice system, and discrimination and other shortcomings in the customary law. These problems often lead to a failure to investigate, prosecute and punish these offenses. As a result, the victims have little recourse to the justice system, while the perpetrators face little disincentive to abuse again.

The Zambian Penal Code prohibits rape, incest, and "defilement"-sex with a girl under age sixteen-as well as neglect or desertion of children by a parent or guardian.¹⁵⁹ It also outlaws offenses endangering life or health, unlawful compulsory labor, and assaults causing bodily harm.¹⁶⁰ In addition, the Juvenile Act of 1956 provides for care and protection of children;¹⁶¹ Section 46 also prohibits cruelty to children by parents or guardians.

Statutory and Customary Law

Before independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, Zambia had two distinct legal systems, one applying only to Africans and the other to Africans and Europeans. Zambian law now integrates the two legal systems: customary law, based on pre-colonial legal systems as interpreted by the colonial "native courts," known as local courts today; and statutory law, much of it still inherited from the pre-independence era, but modified and extended by legislation adopted by the Zambian parliament since 1964. In general, customary law grants significantly fewer rights to women and girls than statutory law.

The Zambian court system is separated into several levels-local courts, magistrates courts, the High Court, and the Supreme Court. Disputes or prosecutions under statutory law are heard in the magistrates courts (if less important) or the High Court, with appeal to the Supreme Court. Disputes under customary law are usually heard in local courts, the lowest level in the judicial hierarchy, governed by the 1934 Subordinate Courts Act and the 1966 Local Courts Act, and can also be appealed through the rest of the court system. The jurisdiction of the local courts includes, among other things, determining the rights of people not married in a civil ceremony governed by the Marriage Act in respect of property, inheritance, marriage and divorce.¹⁶² While some urban Zambians are married in civil rites governed by the Marriage Act, which sets out nondiscriminatory rules for property division and inheritance, most rural (and urban) Zambians are still married under customary law.¹⁶³ The local courts thus determine many of their core legal rights. In addition, according to the Local Courts Act, section 12(2): "Any offence under African customary law, where such law is not repugnant to natural justice or morality, may be dealt with by a local court as an offence under such law notwithstanding that a similar offence may be constituted by the Penal Code or by any other written law."¹⁶⁴ The local courts do not, however, have jurisdiction to try more serious offenses, including murder and rape, which must be heard in the magistrates court or High Court.¹⁶⁵

Problems may arise when the laws under the two legal systems conflict, even though the Local Courts Act makes it clear that in such instances statutory law should take precedence.¹⁶⁶ When customary law takes precedence, according to Constance Lewanika of WILDAF, it often happens that "the worst victims are women and girls, stemming from social and cultural factors which degrade the position of women and girls."¹⁶⁷

For example, the Marriage Act says that the legal age of marriage is sixteen, and that anyone under twenty-one who is not a widow or widower needs written consent from the father (or mother or guardian, if the father is dead or of unsound mind). If the father refuses consent, the child can apply to a High Court judge to provide consent. In addition, the penal code makes sex with a girl under sixteen a crime punishable by up to life in prison. However, the Marriage Act does not apply to marriages under customary law, where the age of marriage is considered to be maturity. Maturity is not defined and there is no minimum age set: in some cases, maturity can mean thirteen years old or the onset of menses. In practice, especially in the rural areas, it is commonplace for girls to be married or expected to have sexual relations under the age of sixteen, and virtually unheard of for prosecutions under the penal code to result.

Despite the guarantees for nondiscrimination in the Zambian Constitution, customary law and practice place women in subordinate positions. These discriminatory practices increase women's and girls' vulnerability to HIV, as the U.N. Common Country Assessment for 2000 noted: "In Zambia, some of the factors contributing to [the spread of AIDS] are imbedded in Customary laws and practices, especially in relation to divorce, adultery, child marriages and defilement."¹⁶⁸ The WLSA report on gender violence noted that the practice of paying lobola under customary law restricts a woman's ability to leave an abusive marriage (once the lobola has been paid, traditional says that the bride essentially becomes the property of the man and his family), and has been a contributing factor to early marriages for girls. The report states:

The lobola system in which marriage payments are made to the family of the bride also serves to enhance the woman's vulnerability to violence at the hands of her future husband. . . . Thus the commercialization of lobola has led to the commodification of girls.¹⁶⁹

Inheritance

Nowhere has the conflict between customary and statutory law been as evident as in the question of inheritance. This conflict is compounded by HIV/AIDS, since families often seek to disinherit children orphaned by AIDS and women widowed by AIDS. Inheritance has been governed by both customary and statutory law and is further complicated by diverse traditions among Zambia's seventy-three ethnic groups. Still, tradition in most ethnic groups in Zambia and in the region dictates that the deceased man's family retains all inheritance rights. Girls face particular risk of being disinherited following the death of either a father or a husband (since girls are often married to older men, they can be widowed when they are still children).

In Zambia, the 1989 Intestate Succession Act, which covers those who die without leaving a will, seeks to protect the dependents of the deceased; it is designed to provide for the surviving spouse, children, and other dependents and to protect against the unlawful appropriation of property by relatives. The act recognizes children born out of wedlock for purposes of inheritance, and a 1996 reform of the act allows inheritance rights for other wives. It states that when someone dies intestate, the deceased's spouse, children and other dependents (which could include parents and others who were cared for by the deceased) would received the following percentages of his estate: 20 percent to the spouse, 20 percent for the father and mother (10 percent each), 50 percent to be shared among all children, and 10 percent to be shared among other secondary dependents. The 1989 Wills and Administration of Testate Estates Act does not apply to land held under customary law, but allows adults of sound mind to write a will to determine how their property will be handled after their death. If the will does not provide for adequate maintenance of a dependent, the court can alter its contents.¹⁷⁰

The problems arise not because of the law on succession itself but rather the way it is put into practice. As noted by Zambian legal scholar Muna Ndulo, "Initially, it was a problem of law, but now the struggle is to make the law work."¹⁷¹ WLSA made these observations in a publication that analyzed inheritance practices in Zambia as well as the impact of the new law:

On paper, the new law of inheritance has been a wonderful breakthrough for women's rights. In practice, though, the five years since the enactment of the Act have witnessed a very different picture. The earlier resentment at the passing of a law which usurps customary rights has blossomed into a blatant disregard of statutory law and a perpetuation of the distorted and evil practice of "property grabbing.". . . . The law is weakened first and foremost by the lack of conviction among women themselves that they have a legal right to their deceased husband's property, and secondly, by their fear of reprisals should they invoke the law. Furthermore, even the lawyers and the law enforcement agencies such as the police and Local Courts may have failed to give the new law the respect it deserves and encourage its use.¹⁷²

"Property-grabbing"-unlawful appropriation of property by relatives or others-is the main abuse associated with inheritance rights. This practice has potentially dire implications for the widow and children, who may be left destitute, with girls being propelled, in order to survive, into risky professions with the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Notwithstanding the enactment of the law on succession, widows may be stripped of all the matrimonial property and sometimes even of their children upon the death of their husband. The practice stems from a manipulation of customary laws, which assumes a husband's sole ownership of matrimonial property and passes such ownership to a male relative of the deceased who is then supposed to assume responsibility for the widow and children ("widow inheritance"). In the past, this was a way of protecting and caring for the widow and her children: the family of the deceased husband would provide a husband for the widow; if practicable, she would be "inherited" by a brother of the deceased. Taking care of the widow and children was seen as a responsibility for the new husband, not a benefit. In cases of "property grabbing," acceptance of responsibility by the family has been abandoned but not the claim to property.¹⁷³ "Over time, people started relinquishing the responsibility over the children and just seeking to inherit the property. They then discard the widow and children," explained Lewanika.¹⁷⁴

The United Nations Common Country Assessment accurately described the continuing problems related to inheritance in Zambia:

In practice, "property grabbing" by relatives of the deceased man continues to be rampant, particularly when local customary courts have jurisdiction. These courts often use the Local Courts Act to distribute inheritances without reference to the percentages mandated by the Intestate Succession Act, and the fines mandated by the latter for property grabbing are extraordinarily low. As a result, many widows receive little or nothing from the estate.¹⁷⁵

Patty B., sixteen years old, described to Human Rights Watch what happened after her father died. "The relatives grabbed all our property, even my clothes. I didn't even get a single spoon. This was my father's relatives." When her mother died in 2000, she ended up living with an uncle, who abused her, and who is feared by the family to be HIV-positive.¹⁷⁶

Matilda S. was pulled out of school at seventeen, after her father died. The family's property was grabbed by the grandparents. "They took chairs, the bed, license plates, and cabinets." She said that after the property is grabbed, girls often start prostitution to make ends meet.¹⁷⁷ Peggy R., who became a sex worker, told Human Rights Watch: "After my father died, everything was taken by my father's family. I was six years old. The sister of my father took everything. It doesn't matter if you take it to court."¹⁷⁸

Custody of the children raises other thorny issues. When the lobola, or bride price, has been paid, the man's relatives often demand custody of the children. As one HIV-positive woman whose husband had died of AIDS told Human Rights Watch: "My in-laws said I bewitched my husband. They took my six children from me. They scare my children from me. They don't allow my children to live with me."¹⁷⁹ The risks to girls in such situations of separation from a parent and being in the care of members of the extended family are obvious from the testimonies featured earlier in this report (see Part IV).

When widow inheritance is not abused in the ways described above, HIV/AIDS risks still arise, especially given the continued practice of polygamy in Zambia. If the husband died of AIDS-related causes, HIV is likely to be spread from the widow to the new husband and to his other wife or wives. The consequences for HIV transmission are obvious, especially since studies suggest that condom use among married persons is low.¹⁸⁰ Although the practice of widow inheritance is not supported by Zambian law, addressing it requires a more vigorous response from the government.

Constraints to Effective Prosecution in Sexual Abuse Cases

In addition to the conflict with customary law in respect of child marriage versus defilement, described above, constraints to prosecution include the attitude of the legal and law enforcement agencies toward girl victims, the inadequate training and resources for investigation (see below, VSU), the difficulties of using a child's testimony in court, and the lack of trained prosecutors to pursue cases of child and gender violence. In addition, the widespread reluctance by families themselves to seek criminal penalties for abuses against girls, as described above, remains an underlying impediment to prosecution.

There is a requirement in Chapter 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code that a child's testimony has to be corroborated to be admissible as evidence, a feature of the law not unique to Zambia. Even the government acknowledges that this presents obstacles to prosecuting perpetrators of child abuse. The judge can use his or her discretion to determine whether the child is competent and therefore whether his or her evidence is admissible.¹⁸¹ Although evaluating the competency of a child witness is a standard part of common law doctrine, it tends to work to the disadvantage of the child when he, or especially she, is the victim. The courts often do not take her case seriously and, in the case of an older girl with a complaint of sexual abuse, the case may hinge on whether or not the judge believes she "asked for it." This problem underscores the need for effective child protection units that could investigate cases of abuse and provide corroboration.¹⁸²

Some women's groups have called for an expanded definition of rape, stressing the need to restructure the law to provide for circumstances of aggravated rape, which should lead to stiffer penalties. In addition, the law should recognize marital rape, which may be an important vehicle for HIV transmission and which does not exist currently as an offense in Zambian law. They have also called for stiffer, mandatory minimum sentences as a way of addressing the lenient sentences.¹⁸³ Similarly, the groups have criticized the application of the law on "defilement" as being "grossly inadequate and irrelevant considering the gravity of sexually abusing a young girl."¹⁸⁴

The lower courts in the Zambian system-the local and magistrates courts-are subject to restrictions on their jurisdiction to mete out sentences. Local courts cannot impose prison sentences exceeding two years. Zambian women's groups have stressed the importance of stopping lower courts from trying offenses for which they do not have jurisdiction to impose "deterrent sentences" and from applying customary civil law to criminal offenses, including "defilement," incest, rape, and assault, which should be heard in the magistrates courts.¹⁸⁵ Lewanika of WILDAF reported that families occasionally bring such cases to the lower courts, though they are not designated in the law for that purpose, when they are seeking financial compensation rather than criminal penalties.¹⁸⁶ Local courts can send a matter to a magistrates court, such as when the prosecution seeks stiffer penalties than those the lower courts can impose, or a case can be appealed to a magistrates court. Depending on the severity of the case, it could then go to the High Court and ultimately to the Supreme Court. Magistrates courts, however, are also restricted in their authority to impose sentences (depending on the class of court and the type of magistrate, to five or to ten years' imprisonment). As with the local courts, this can cause problems. WLSA produced a report on gender violence and the justice system in Zambia, which analyzes how the justice system responds to such cases. It stated that:

[A]nother frustration for the victims once they go to court is that these offenses attract light sentences, not because the provisions of law are inadequate, but due to having magistrates that do not have the requisite jurisdiction. There is a gap between the maximum sentences provided by legislation and the jurisdiction of the courts. . . . Thus the message given to the perpetrators of these crimes is that these are not serious issues, and so violence is then perpetrated for the victim at another level as well. . . . This affirms the offender and says that as the state, violence is tolerated.¹⁸⁷

In 2002, a group of Zambian women's organizations published an NGO commentary on the government's official report to the U.N. on the implementation of CEDAW. The NGO report underscores the vulnerability of girls to violence and HIV, and the state's failure to protect them:

The media carries almost daily reports of children being raped or defiled by adults often within the home because of mythical hopes of getting cured of AIDS or avoiding HIV infection by having sex with virgins. The following illustrate: `Man 23 in court for defiling girl 7', `HIV+ man gets 30 months for defiling girl 13', `Grandfather 64 gets 2 years for defiling girl 5'. The result is that children are getting infected and dying and the courts are passing light sentences on the perpetrators.¹⁸⁸

The NGO commentary further condemns the light sentences meted out to offenders:

Law enforcement officers and courts do not accord the same level of seriousness to these offences as they do to other crimes. Under the Penal Code, the offences fall under the title "offences against morality" rather than injuries against the person. Thus, the focus of the provisions is the moral wrong done to society as a whole, to the detriment of the individual victim of violence.¹⁸⁹

Not unique to the matter of sexual assault cases in the justice system, delays and inefficiencies, which are hallmarks of the system, impede the pursuit of cases. According to Professor Muna Ndulo, an expert on Zambian law, these result partly from lack of training for prosecutors and police to prepare cases efficiently.¹⁹⁰ The relatively low level of training and education of the police force complicates both the quality of investigations and the preparation of dockets, and these problems are particularly acute in cases of sexual abuse, Ndulo observed.

147 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), entered into force in January 1992; Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), entered into force in July 1985; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), entered into force in July 1984; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), entered into force in July 1984; Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), entered into force in November 1998.

148 U.N. Common Country Assessment, p. 80.

149 CEDAW, art. 2. In addition, article 1 of CEDAW defines discrimination to include unintentional and intentional sex discrimination. Article 2(f) calls on governments to abolish laws, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against women, and article 5(a) echoes this, urging states to take "appropriate measures" to eliminate prejudices and customary practices based on the subordination of women and girls. Article 10 enjoins states to eliminate gender discrimination in education.

150 Southern African Development Community, "Gender and Development: A Declaration by Heads of State or Government of the Southern African Development Community," par. H(ix), September 8, 1997.

151 Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force Sept. 2, 1990.

152 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, "HIVAIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines" (from the second international consultation on HIV/AIDS and human rights, 23-25 September 1996, Geneva), U.N. Doc. HR/PUB/98/1, Geneva, 1998.

153 "HIVAIDS and Human Rights: International Guidelines": 59. By 2005, bearing in mind the context and character of the epidemic and that globally women and girls are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, develop and accelerate the implementation of national strategies that: promote the advancement of women and women's full enjoyment of all human rights; promote shared responsibility of men and women to ensure safe sex; empower women to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality to increase their ability to protect themselves from HIV infection; 60. By 2005, implement measures to increase capacities of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the provision of health care and health services, including sexual and reproductive health, and through prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culturally and gender sensitive framework; 61. By 2005, ensure development and accelerated implementation of national strategies for women's empowerment, promotion and protection of women's full enjoyment of all human rights and reduction of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS through the elimination of all forms of discrimination, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls, including harmful traditional and customary practices, abuse, rape and other forms of sexual violence, battering and trafficking in women and girls.

154 General Comment 14. The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 22^nd sess., 2000, paras. 12(b), 16 and note 8.

155 CRC, art. 24(2)(e).

156 General Comment 14. The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, para. 12(b) and note 8.

157 Ibid., para. 34.

158 Constitution of Zambia, paragraph 23 (3), 1991.

159 Chapter XV, Section 132 defines rape as follows: "[a]ny person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of bodily harm, or by means of false representations as to the nature of the act, or, in the case of a married woman, by personating her husband, is guilty of the felony termed `rape.'" Section 133 states "[a]ny person who commits the offense of rape is liable to imprisonment for life." Section 134 states that "[a]ny person who attempts to commit rape is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life." Section 138 (1): "[a]ny person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girls under the age of sixteen years is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life." Incest is covered under Section 159: [a]ny male person who has carnal knowledge of a female person, who is to his knowledge his granddaughter, daughter, sister, or mother, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years." Section 159 (2) further stipulates that "it is immaterial if the carnal knowledge was had with the consent of the female person." Chapter XVI, Section 168, makes desertion of children under the age of sixteen by a parent or guardian a misdemeanor. Section 169 makes neglecting to provide food, clothes and other necessities for a child by a parent or guardian a misdemeanor.

160 Chapter XXII Offenses Endangering Life or Health, Section 229 "Any person who unlawfully does grievous harm to another is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years." Chapter XXV Section 263 "Any person who unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person is guilty of a misdemeanor. Chapter XXIV, Section 248 "Any person who commits an assault occasioning actual bodily harm is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for five years."

161 Juvenile Act of 1956 (with numerous amendments), Chapter 53 of the Laws of Zambia.

162 Inter-African Network for Human Rights and Development, "The Dilemma of Local Courts in Zambia: A Question of Colonial Legal Continuity or Deliberate Customary Law Marginalisation?" (Afronet Report on the Judicial Sector Administering Customary Law), Afronet (Lusaka), 1998.

163 Email communication from Constance Lewanika, WILDAF, to Human Rights Watch, October 9, 2002. Lewanika also noted that in practice the nondiscriminatory protections contained in the Marriage Act are rarely implemented.

164 Local Courts Act of 1966.

165 Battery, rape, defilement, and murder of women in domestic incidents are criminal matters covered by the Zambia Penal Code that are not meant to be heard in the local courts. According to Constance Lewanika, these matters are nonetheless sometimes taken up by local courts, and WILDAF and other organizations frequently protest their handling in those venues. See Lewanika, October 9, 2002.

166 Ibid.

167 Human Rights Watch interview with Lewanika, May 21, 2002.

168 United Nations, "Common Country Assessment: Zambia 2000," December 2000, p. 17.

169 Women and Law in Southern Africa, "Gender Violence: The invisible struggle; Responses of the Justice Delivery System in Zambia," p. 8.

170 Women and Law in Southern Africa Research Project, "Inheritance in Zambia: Law and Practice," pp. 78-79.

171 Human Rights Watch interview, July 16, 2002.

172 "Inheritance in Zambia: Law and Practice," op. cit., p. 83.

173 NGO Commentary, p. 22.

174 Human Rights Watch interview, May 21, 2002.

175 U.N., "Common Country Assessment: Zambia 2000," p. 16.

176 Human Rights Watch interview at Umoya, Lusaka, May 22, 2002.

177 Human Rights Watch interview at Umoya, Lusaka, May 22, 2002.

178 Human Rights Watch interview with MAPODE, Lusaka, May 20, 2002.

179 Human Rights Watch interview with members of PALS, Lusaka, May 23, 2002.

180 The nationwide Demographic and Health Survey of Zambia in 1996 reported that 28 percent of men reported having ever used a condom, and experts suggest that regular use is much lower, partly due to the fact that until the mid-1990s condoms were hardly available. A few projects have reported increased condom use among Zambian young people who have been exposed to promotional campaigns on the subject. See Government of Zambia, Central Statistics Office and Ministry of Health, and Macro International, Inc., Demographic and Health Survey 1996: Zambia (Calverton, MD: Macro International, 1997), p. 46; and Population Services International, "Zambia Social Marketing Project Has Maximum Impact on War Against AIDS," at http://www.psi.org/resources/ pubs/zambia.html (retrieved August 29, 2002).

181 CRC report, pp. 19 and 23.

182 Human Rights Watch interview with Prof. Muna Ndulo, Cornell University School of Law, July 15, 2002.

183 Women and Law in Southern Africa Trust - Zambia, "Gender Violence: The invisible struggle," (Lusaka: 2001), p. 25.

184 Ibid., p. 27.

185 NGO Commentary, p. 19.

186 Email communication from Constance Lewanika to Human Rights Watch, October 9, 2002.

187 WLSA Gender Violence, p. 98.

188 Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)-Zambia, "NGO Commentary on the Government of Zambia Combined Third and Fourth Report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," Lusaka, May 2002, p. 16.

189 NGO Commentary, p. 16.

190 Human Rights Watch interview with Professor Muna Ndulo, September 9, 2002.