<<previous  |  index  |  next>>

VI. Zambia’s Response to Gender-Based Abuses Impeding Women’s HIV Treatment

I have always felt that [the government is] not doing anything.  If the president says, “declare free drugs,” do they know what is happening to women?  When ministers talk about achievements [in terms of treatment rollout], the biggest beneficiaries of ARV [programs] are women.  [But] What have they [really] done for them?  They need to … put appropriate laws and policies in place.  [There is a need] for provisions for women [so] if they are beaten because they are [HIV] positive, men should be jailed.

—Ida Mukuka, AIDS activist and former support groups’ coordinator in Lusaka, January 31, 2007

The Zambian government’s rollout of free ART is commendable as is the establishment of a gender ministry in 2006.  However, the government has not done nearly enough to prevent or respond to gender-based violence and inadequate protection of women’s property rights, and the impact that these abuses have on women’s ability to access and adhere to ART.  Healthcare facilities providing ART—which are overburdened and under-staffed—have no systems in place to detect or address gender-based abuses such as domestic violence.  The training that counselors receive does not cover gender-based abuses in a systematic manner, nor does the understanding of gender-based abuses factor into official counselor certification.  There are no government protocols on how to address gender-based abuses, including domestic violence, within ART programs, and monitoring systems do not track the effects of such abuse. Our research found no arrangement or partnership between the government and nongovernmental service providers that could provide such services at healthcare facilities.

Similarly, the country’s legal framework fails to address these issues adequately.  Zambia has no specific law that criminalizes gender-based violence.  The penal code does not cover marital rape or psychological abuse.  Prevalent customary laws discriminate against women in terms of property allocation upon divorce or the death of a spouse.  The 1989 Intestate Succession Act regulates inheritance where the deceased did not leave a will, by providing for the surviving spouse in such cases, but it is ill-enforced.

This chapter examines the response—or lack thereof—of the health system and the legal, justice, and policy frameworks in Zambia to the violations described in the previous chapter. 

The Health System

Health Policies

The Zambian government is responsible for devising health policies, delivering healthcare services, regulating private providers of healthcare services, and regulating healthcare workers, including HIV and ART adherence counselors.¹⁰³  In 2005 the Zambian government launched the National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Policy (hereafter National HIV Policy).  The policy identifies “[g]ender issues that perpetuate the dominance of male interests and lack of self assertiveness on the part of women in sexual relations” as a major factor contributing to the spread of HIV.  The policy also lists women’s poor socioeconomic status and unequal distribution of household resources as determinants of the disproportionate effects of AIDS on women.  The policy, however, does not mention gender-based violence and its effects on treatment. 

In May 2006 the government launched the National HIV and AIDS Strategic Framework, which stated that AIDS was inter-linked with poverty, social and economic inequality between women and men, and dominant cultural beliefs, and acknowledged the disproportionate effect of AIDS on women.¹⁰⁴  This framework, however, does not suggest ways to address gender-based abuses.  The Fifth National Development Plan (2006-2010) (FNDP) further articulates the national policy response to HIV/AIDS.  It has a specific chapter on gender and recognizes the role of gender-based violence in the spread of HIV/AIDS.¹⁰⁵  The FNDP recommends strengthening the penal code with respect to gender-based violence and facilitating the enactment of a gender-based violence bill as strategies for the gender sector during the period (2006-2010).¹⁰⁶  

Healthcare Facilities and Gender-Based Violence

In the past decade an international consensus has gathered around the importance of recognizing gender-based violence as a critical public health issue,¹⁰⁷ and as a barrier to women’s use of health services.¹⁰⁸  As a result, the WHO and UNAIDS issued a policy statement in 2004, calling for interventions that take into account the different needs of women and men who access HIV services.¹⁰⁹  And the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2005 encouraged states “to ensure the availability towomen and girls of comprehensive and accessible health-care services and programmes and to health‑care providers who are knowledgeable and trained to recognize signs of violence against women and girls and to meet the needs of patients who have been subjected to violence, in order to minimize the adverse physical and psychological consequences of violence.”¹¹⁰

In 1999 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) identified gender-based violence as a critical health issue for women, and called upon states parties to guarantee “(a) The enactment and effective enforcement of laws and the formulation of policies, including health care protocols and hospital procedures to address violence against women … and the provision of appropriate health services; (b) Gender-sensitive training to enable health care workers to detect and manage the health consequences of gender-based violence….”¹¹¹ 

In Zambia our investigation revealed that healthcare facilities providing ART have not adequately responded to gender-based abuses, including violence against women, in a way that would enhance women’s access and adherence to ART.   Although relevant policies generally highlight the importance of gender in addressing health needs in Zambia, they seldom address gender-based violence.   Healthcare workers responsible for monitoring adherence to ART are not required to probe for gender-based violence or other abuses as potential hindrances to successful treatment, nor are they adequately trained to do so.  Existing health protocols do not cover gender-based violence. 

HIV adherence counselors, other health professionals, and policy-makers, however, told Human Rights Watch that they would welcome programs through which they could probe for and address gender-based violence in ART clinics, if adequately trained and equipped to do so.  This should be part of an overall strategy to address gender-based violence and other abuses that affect Zambian women.    

Monitoring Adherence to ART and Gender-Based Abuses  

Chapter V discusses the extent to which violence against women and inadequate protection of property rights for women affect women’s access and adherence to HIV treatment.  Health facilities disseminating ART, including clinics, could play an important role in detecting and responding to these abuses, especially during adherence counseling sessions.  In Zambia clinical follow up for all patients living with HIV/AIDS takes place at least every three months.  Patients receiving ART typically present every month at clinics to collect their drugs.¹¹²  At these monthly visits they also generally attend adherence counseling sessions.  These are one-on-one sessions where a trained counselor determines the capacity of a patient to take his or her prescribed ART, monitors adherence to ART, and helps patients develop ways to cope with their illness and with ART. 

Human Rights Watch’s interviews with women receiving ART and with healthcare staff, including adherence counselors, indicated that healthcare facilities providing and monitoring adherence to ART seldom address gender-based violence or other abuses.  This is left to the discretion of individual healthcare workers,¹¹³ several of whom said they only discuss gender-based violence when women have visible signs of physical abuse.¹¹⁴  In such cases some counselors advise women to contact the VSU or the YWCA,¹¹⁵ or offer them couple counseling.¹¹⁶ Staff at the YWCA said that at times hospitals refer women who were injured as a result of domestic violence—and who were receiving treatment for these injuries—to YWCA.¹¹⁷

Counselors commonly monitor patients’ adherence by counting the pills remaining from the last visit and asking questions if the patient has missed ART doses.  Most counselors complete a form, devised by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia¹¹⁸ (see Appendix I), that assists counselors in discussing adherence-related issues with patients.¹¹⁹  It probes a wide range of reasons why a patient may not have taken their ART, including that the patient forgot, felt too ill, experienced side effects, ran out of medication, was uncomfortable taking the pills in front of others, was disorganized, or had problems swallowing.  However, the form does not include questions about violence, including violence against women.  Thus, some of the critical barriers to women’s adherence to ART remain undetected and unaddressed by healthcare workers.  This undermines these facilities’ ability to provide appropriate support to women who experience violence.¹²⁰ 

Probing whether female patients have experienced or fear gender-based violence or other forms of abuse or discrimination including violations of their property rights, in adherence counseling sessions can help women overcome the dehumanizing effects of the abuses described earlier in this report, and would improve women’s ability to cope with ART, HIV/AIDS, and violence.¹²¹  Human Rights Watch asked policy-makers, counselors, and other healthcare workers about the feasibility of detecting and responding to gender-based violence by healthcare staff in facilities providing ART.  The majority of healthcare professionals and policy-makers interviewed said that, with proper support, it would generally be desirable and feasible to address gender-based violence in their work.  Dr. Kamoto Mbewe, reproductive health specialist at the Ministry of Health in Zambia, supported the idea of integrating questions about gender-based violence “because women may hide the abuses, so it is important that [health workers] help those [women].”¹²²  Elizabeth Serlemitsos, chief advisor at the Zambia National AIDS Council (NAC), said that it would be “realistic” to recommend that adherence counselors ask about domestic violence, but that in rural areas, where there are less community resources, this requires HIV counselors to have basic skills on how to counsel women about gender-based violence.¹²³ 

The manager of planning and development at the Kafue District Health Management Team stated that it “will help us a lot to have these interventions [to address gender-based violence].”¹²⁴ Theresa Chidothi, a nurse and counselor in Nangongwe clinic in Kafue, rural Lusaka, said that screening for and addressing gender-based violence was “a welcome idea.  We require skills to handle [survivors of gender-based violence].”¹²⁵  In terms of time limitations, Theresa Chidothi said, “I think we can manage [in Kafue] because we have set aside a day to [see patients in need of ART].”¹²⁶ 

In Chongwe, Idah Mthetwa, an ART nurse and adherence counselor, said that it is a “good idea” to probe for and address gender-based violence, but stressed the need for more community-based services, to which counselors could refer women living with HIV/AIDS who are experiencing gender-based violence.¹²⁷

Counselors in Lusaka expressed similar enthusiasm for handling gender-based violence in their clinics, provided that adequate training is secured and adequate space is provided for counseling.¹²⁸  Monica Mwachande, senior nurse at Kalingalinga clinic, said that screening for and addressing gender-based violence “could easily be fitted” into adherence monitoring and counseling sessions.¹²⁹   Some women will not reveal their experience of domestic violence right away, she said, “but I will at least handle those women, advise them that there are people who can help, for example, the YWCA, the Human Rights Commission, and the VSU.”¹³⁰   

Vital as it is, this enthusiasm for handling gender-based violence needs to be supported by several practical steps and should be part of an overall strategy to combat gender-based abuses.  The practical steps include, but are not limited to, proper training at different levels of health facilities that covers gender-based violence, the availability of protocols that outline ways to address such violence, improving clinic infrastructure, and establishing clear referral channels with existing support organizations.   This should be done in partnership with local and international stakeholders given that healthcare facilities in Zambia are already overburdened.  The existence of guidelines and models of good practice devised by agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on how to address gender-based violence in health settings can be helpful in guiding this response (see Appendix II).

Training for ART Counselors

Currently, HIV counselors in Zambia must complete eight weeks of training in psycho-social counseling as a prerequisite for certification.¹³¹  Some counselors take additional specialist training in eclectic counseling (diverse areas of counseling), pediatric counseling, adherence counseling, etc.   These courses are usually paid for by the counselors themselves or by the institutions they work for.¹³²

There are a variety of providers of training for counselors who use training guidelines developed by the Ministry of Health.  Some of these providers cover gender relations in their training curricula, but to our knowledge, they seldom cover, systematically, ways to screen for and/or address gender-based violence.  The training manager at Kara Counseling told Human Rights Watch that Kara has integrated gender into their courses.¹³³  The head of the department of counseling studies at Chainama College (which trains counselors and trainers, including those delivering courses at Kara Counseling) also told Human Rights Watch that their curriculum included gender modules, covering the definition of gender, gender awareness, gender as a cross-cutting issue, how to counsel on “gender-conflict,” and violence.¹³⁴ 

The Zambia Counseling Council, a quasi-governmental organization responsible for counselor certification and for monitoring the performance of adherence counselors, has the mandate to de-register counselors who engage in unethical behavior.  The Council does not require gender training for counselor accreditation.¹³⁵

Health System Limitations and the Response to Gender-Based Abuses

The availability of ART has contributed substantially to the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS in Zambia, especially women.  But there are a number of health system constraints that the government has not yet overcome, including a lack of confidential space for counseling; a shortage of human resources; a lack of response to women’s inability to afford transportation costs to attend clinic appointments; and inadequate appointment systems, which lead to long waiting hours in clinics.  These constraints hinder HIV treatment substantially, as they intersect with women’s experiences of domestic violence and other kinds of abuse.  

Shortage of Human Resources

One of the main limitations in the health system in relation to ART rollout is the shortage of healthcare workers,¹³⁶ especially medical doctors,¹³⁷ in Zambia. Shortages of trained healthcare workers, according to the government’s Gender in Development Division, reduce “access to health services for the victims of violence.”¹³⁸ 

To address human resource limitations and facilitate treatment rollout, the government has trained clinical officers, nurses, and midwives, and accorded them the additional responsibility of providing HIV treatment and care, following standard care protocols.¹³⁹  However, HIV counselors currently are not on the government’s payroll and are also poorly paid: a counselor typically earns between Kw25,000 and Kw35,000 (between $6 and  $9) per day.¹⁴⁰  To increase the number of nurses and midwives, the government is opening a number of nursing schools and they have reduced the number of years required for midwifery training.  The reproductive health specialist at the Ministry of Health told Human Rights Watch that in addition to these steps, the government has a human resources plan and has taken measures to increase the number of health professionals in rural areas.¹⁴¹

Inadequate Infrastructure

Sufficient clinics with space for counseling, at a reasonable distance from patients’ homes, are important factors in the delivery of quality HIV services.  Unfortunately, many of the women and counselors interviewed for this report complained about long distances to clinics and the lack of adequate space for counseling.  Women who were impoverished, often as a result of property grabbing or unequal distribution of marital property upon divorce, said that as a result of high transportation costs to far-away clinics, they miss clinic appointments. 

Without sufficient private and confidential space for counseling, women may not be comfortable disclosing and discussing gender-based violence.¹⁴²  Some clinics lack the space necessary to ensure privacy and confidentiality for HIV patients.  For example, the Lusaka-based Kalingalinga and Kamwala clinics, run by the government with support from CIDRZ, where a counselor sees between 70 and 110 patients per day, have one adherence-counseling room each.  Counselors must either wait for their colleagues to complete their adherence sessions before seeing their clients, or use the same room for more than one session simultaneously, thus compromising patient confidentiality, privacy, and the general quality of service.  As one supervisor in an HIV clinic in Lusaka put it,

The complaints that counselors come with [include the problem that] the clinics are congested. The space is so squeezed and used to be a ward.  At least if we had three rooms in the clinic for adherence counseling, we would not have to wait outside until the room is free.¹⁴³

A counselor in Lusaka told us,

Space is the biggest issue.  Because of lack of infrastructure, you see in one side[of a counseling room], someone is getting blood, maybe CD4 count, and another counselor is giving adherence counseling in the same room.¹⁴⁴

The number and location of clinics determine how easy they are to reach.  Chapter V discusses the drastic effects that property grabbing and insecure property rights upon divorce have on women’s ability to afford transport to far-away clinics.  This is particularly problematic in rural areas.  A woman who lives in Chongwe, rural Lusaka, said that she had to pay Kw20,000 (about $4.80) for transportation every time she visited the clinic and that “the government should bring clinics nearer to people.”¹⁴⁵

Recognizing the transport challenge, clinics budget for emergencies that might prevent patients from renewing their prescriptions on time: two to three days’ worth of extra pills are provided with each dispensation of ART and clinics also allow pre-registered family members or “buddies” to collect the medicine on behalf of patients if needed.¹⁴⁶ However, this is not always effective for women affected by gender-based violence who are hiding their status from their husbands and other family members.  When asked about the steps taken to improve patients’ access to care, the district commissioner of Chongwe, a district that has 300 trained counselors,¹⁴⁷ said that the government provided thirty bicycles and motorbikes for the district’s 28 clinics, including clinics providing ART, so healthcare staff can reach patients who are unable to attend clinics due to distance or poor road networks.¹⁴⁸

The director of Lusaka’s District Health Management Team also said that that the Zambian government has increased the number of clinics delivering ART-related services in Lusaka and a number of other provinces, and expanded some of the clinics to provide more space for ART services.¹⁴⁹ As of October 2006 there were thirty-one sites in Lusaka supported by CIDRZ, one of the largest agencies supporting ART service delivery in Zambia.¹⁵⁰

Lack of Appointment Systems

Most healthcare facilities that provide ART lack of appointment systems, which allow patients to make appointments in advance.  This compounds the problems that women affected by gender-based abuses encounter in their daily lives and impacts their adherence to ART.  The only clinic that has an appointment system that Human Rights watch identified in its research was the Kara Clinic.  The director of the Lusaka DHMT said that introducing an appointment system in Zambia will be difficult given that patients might not be able to arrive on time.¹⁵¹

As discussed earlier in this report, the violence and other abuses that women experience in Zambia sometimes compel women to hide their HIV status from their husbands, partners, and other family members.  In such circumstances women have to make up explanations for their trips to attend clinic appointments, such as telling their husbands that they are visiting relatives or attending a funeral.  In the absence of an appointment system, women end up waiting long hours at clinics.  A number of women testified that they experienced violence at the hands of their husbands for arriving home late from clinics and for failing to prepare the food on time.   Then women must also wait at clinics without food.  One woman who told Human Rights Watch that her husband beats her up for the slightest delay, even if she was buying vegetables in the market, said, “The problem is when I go to the clinic to get ARVs.  I go there six in the morning and come back at 20:00 hrs.  They don’t give you food, so when it is time I drink my medicine without food.”¹⁵²

The Role of Women’s Organizations in AIDS Programs and Community-Based Support

Community-based support is an important element of a successful AIDS response, including in terms of receiving and responding to referrals from healthcare facilities addressing gender-based abuses.  In Zambia, particularly in urban settings in Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces, there is a wide range of women’s organizations and other nongovernmental organizations and community-based organizations that provide services to women affected by gender-based abuses, including domestic violence and lack of enjoyment of property rights.  Yet currently there are almost no formal referral paths between health facilities providing ART and these organizations.  Counselors often refer patients on ART to support groups associated with the health facility or run by nongovernmental or faith-based organizations that address the needs of adults and children living with HIV/AIDS.  But Human Rights Watch knows of no specialized support groups dealing with gender-based violence that are associated with healthcare facilities providing ART. 

In terms of addressing the financial vulnerability of women living with HIV/AIDS, including food security, there are a number of international organizations, such as CARE International and Oxfam, that are implementing programs that provide income support and food security for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Some of these organizations are linked to ART providers.¹⁵³

Addressing the gender-specific problems that arise from health system policy and infrastructural problems discussed above may materialize through better representation of women and women’s organizations in health and HIV policy and coordination bodies.  The essential role of women in decision-making and as full partners in relation to the national and international fight against AIDS has become evident and increasingly recognized globally.¹⁵⁴

NAC, the organization that coordinates Zambia’s national response to HIV/AIDS, works in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society representatives.  These stakeholders influence the HIV/AIDS response in Zambia through participation in thematic groups.  While the NAC includes youth groups, faith-based groups, traditional healers, and other stakeholders in its thematic groups, there is no thematic group specific to women.  NAC officials told Human Rights Watch that they were planning to contact the Non Governmental Organizations’ Coordinating Council for Gender and Development (NGOCC), a network of women’s organizations in Zambia with over eighty member organizations, to form a women’s specific thematic group.¹⁵⁵ Developing a women’s thematic group within the NAC would improve its ability to identify and address the needs of women living with HIV/AIDS or accessing treatment.    

Legal Framework and Access to Justice

Despite several positive reforms, the legal framework and justice system in Zambia fall short in providing the necessary respect for and protection of women’s rights, as required by Zambia’s human rights obligations.    

The Constitution

Zambia’s constitution is currently undergoing a review process, which is likely to conclude in 2009.  Although the existing constitution contains language that forbids discrimination on the basis of sex (article 23), this provision specifically excludes from its application key areas of personal and customary law.¹⁵⁶  Given that customary law has traditionally been a source of discrimination against women in Zambia, this exclusion undercuts the ability of women married according to customary law to seek redress for violations of their rights. 

The draft constitution, published for discussion in 2006, contains new language that would remedy this and other shortcomings in the current constitution.  Articles 38-40 of the draft provide that every person is equal before the law and has the right not to be discriminated against on any ground, including on the ground of sex; that women and men have equal rights to property and inheritance; and that “any law, culture, custom or tradition that undermines the dignity, welfare, interest or status of women or men is prohibited.”¹⁵⁷  

Legislation on Gender-Based Violence

Zambia has no specific legislation to address domestic violence, so women must resort to the general penal code provisions on assault occasioning bodily harm.¹⁵⁸  Penalties vary depending on the gravity of injury and on whether the assailant used a weapon.  Weak criminal provisions and the lack of other sufficient civil enforcement mechanisms mean that many women, particularly poor women, may be forced to choose between having their husbands arrested and incarcerated or keeping an abusive breadwinner in the family home.  Officers in the VSU, officials at the Zambia Human Rights Commission, and staff members of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) and Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) told Human Rights Watch that complainants often withdraw charges against abusive husbands who have been arrested and imprisoned.¹⁵⁹ In their experience this is because women lack access to financial resources and depend on their spouses for food and shelter.  It is also due to social pressure.  Women have withdrawn charges against abusive partners even where they received free legal services, for example, through the Centre for Coordinated Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence known as the “one-stop center” where women survivors of domestic violence receive free legal support.  According to the director of the center, 50 percent of the cases that the center addresses, especially in the area of domestic violence, are withdrawn.¹⁶⁰ 

The Penal Code does not specifically criminalize marital rape.  Chapter XV, Section 132, of the penal code defines a rapist as: "[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 [sic] her husband….”¹⁶¹  

It has been suggested that one problem is that the definition of rape and the law do not foresee the possibility of “unlawful” carnal knowledge of one’s wife.¹⁶² This would be consistent with the customary social understanding that the payment of “lobola” [dowry] creates an obligation on a woman to be sexually available when her husband so demands.¹⁶³

A new proposed bill, the Sexual Offences and Gender Violence Bill (2006), which WiLDAF drafted in consultation with other nongovernmental organizations, addresses sexual offenses and violence against women and girls in and outside the home.  It also introduces new provisions relating to domestic violence.  The draft bill contains a definition of domestic violence which incorporates physical, sexual, and psychological violence.¹⁶⁴  It introduces a system of remedies in the form of protection orders for victims of domestic violence and criminalizes marital rape.¹⁶⁵  The bill also proposes the establishment of a specialized court for sexual offenses and gender violence, with trials and procedures that are less intrusive into the lives of survivors of sexual abuse.¹⁶⁶  Human Rights Watch understands that the draft Sexual Offences and Gender Violence Bill was presented to Parliament in 2006 but was then withdrawn for further consultation.¹⁶⁷

In its 2006 report on compliance with the Southern African Development Community’s Declaration on Gender and Development and its addendum on the prevention of violence against women and children, the Zambian government reported, “On the issue of gender violence, Government has demonstrated its resolved commitment to reduce and/or eradicate gender based violence by amending the Penal Code which has domesticated in part the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as they relate to violence against women … Act no. 15 of 2005 has stiffened the penalties for perpetrators of sexual violence.”¹⁶⁸

Property Rights in Statutory and Customary Law

Women’s rights to acquire, administer, enjoy and inherit property, including upon divorce, are inadequately protected under Zambian law.  The protections that do exist are poorly enforced.  In terms of property rights upon divorce, the Matrimonial Causes Act, which is awaiting presidential approval as of October 2007¹⁶⁹ and applies to marriages covered by article 3 of the Marriage Act,¹⁷⁰ provides for property-related settlements in court upon divorce, instead of current practices where it is often assumed that the matrimonial property belongs to the husband. The Act is silent in relation to equal division of property upon divorce.

Since many people in Zambia prefer to marry according to customary law rather than according to the civil marriage statute,  the protections of the Matrimonial Causes Act, once in force, will not apply to them.¹⁷¹  As mentioned earlier in this report, customary law generally discriminates against women in divorce.  The Zambian government describes customary law as “unwritten, patriarchal,” and administered by “non-professional justices who are predominantly male.”¹⁷²

Inheritance is another area where customary laws discriminate against women.  Under the customary laws that most Zambian ethnic groups practice, couples do not own property jointly, and traditions in most ethnic groups stipulate that the deceased husband’s family retains all inheritance rights.  The World Bank’s report, Engendering Sustainable Growth in Zambia, states that compared to men, “women [in Zambia] have much lower prospects of inheriting marital assets, land, or money – even when the deceased party is their spouse.  In matrilineal communities only persons related to the deceased through the deceased’s mother or more remote female ancestor are eligible to share in the estate.  In patrilineal communities eligibility is limited to those related to the deceased through a common male ancestor.”¹⁷³

The Intestate Succession Act of 1989 was intended to “make adequate financial and other provisions for the surviving spouse, children, dependents and other relatives” of people who die without leaving a will.¹⁷⁴  The Act allocates 20 percent of the property to the widower or widow, 50 percent to the children, 20 percent to parents of the deceased, and 10 percent to other dependents.¹⁷⁵  Where local courts have jurisdiction, they often do not enforce the Intestate Succession Act.  Instead, they use the Local Courts Act to distribute inheritance without reference to the percentages specified by the Intestate Succession Act, and often mandate low fines for property grabbing.  Thus, in many cases, widows receive little inheritance.¹⁷⁶

The Zambian government has responded to women’s insecure property rights under customary law by initiating consultations with traditional chiefs on the need to change practices that discriminate against women in terms of access to land.¹⁷⁷ Some women’s organizations, such as Women for Change and WLSA, are also working closely with traditional leaders and chiefs in a number of provinces to bring change in the way they handle women’s access to land and property.¹⁷⁸  Moreover, government representatives and women’s rights activists told Human Rights Watch of government’s preliminary efforts to revise and codify customary law so that it is consistent with statutory law and does not discriminate against women.¹⁷⁹

The Victim Support Unit

In 1994 the Zambian government established the Victim Support Unit of the police department (VSU) in response to gender-based abuses.   The VSU has officers in police stations in Zambia’s nine provinces. 

Although the existence of the VSU is an indication of political will to address gender-based abuses, there are serious problems that undermine its ability to carry out its functions effectively. Like other government institutions in Zambia, the unit lacks resources.¹⁸⁰  The head of the Community Service Department of the Zambian police (of which the VSU is part) and Zambian activists¹⁸¹ told Human Rights Watch that the unit lacks paper and sexual crime forensic kits.  The head of the Community Service Department told Human Rights Watch that the one vehicle that the VSU had was out of service.  A nurse counselor in Kafue told Human Rights Watch that she tried to help women patients who had visible signs of physical violence to report their husbands to the VSU, but that VSU officers said they had no transport or were short staffed, and unable to help the women.¹⁸² 

The head of Community Services Department also said that staffing levels were inadequate compared to the responsibilities of the VSU.  In Lusaka province, which has the highest number of VSU officers, there are 120 VSU officers based in 21 stations who are also deployed as “foot officers” in unplanned settlements.¹⁸³  Given that the total population of Lusaka province is 1.39 million¹⁸⁴ of which females constitute 685,551,¹⁸⁵ this means that there is one VSU officer for every 5,713 women and girls in Lusaka province.

Due to high staff turnover,¹⁸⁶ and the lack of a system of ensuring that officers are trained regularly,¹⁸⁷ fewer than half of the VSU officers are properly trained to handle victims of violence.¹⁸⁸  YWCA staff members also raised the problem of high staff turnover at the VSU.  The YWCA held several training workshops on gender-based violence, only to have the officers who received the training move to other departments.¹⁸⁹  According to the head of the Community Services Department, about 40 percent of the staff members are trained in psychosocial counseling.  By February 2007 only six VSU officers had completed training on HIV and on dealing with survivors of sexual violence.   With the exception of the Center for Coordinated Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, the rooms allocated for VSUs are often not adequate to ensure privacy for victims and survivors of sexual violence.¹⁹⁰ 

Although many of the women living with HIV/AIDS and activists in women’s rights organizations we interviewed praised the attitudes of VSU personnel, there were concerns about the behavior of some individual VSU officers and of the police in general, which at times deter women from accessing VSU services.  For example, in some cases, the police encouraged reconciliation rather than pursuing reports on domestic violence.¹⁹¹  A legal advisor at WilDAF told Human Rights Watch that officers at the VSU asked a 17-year-old girl whose father had raped her repeatedly since she was 11, “In [your area] there are no boys of your age?

A number of women interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported cases of corruption among police officers.  One woman said that she believes her former husband bribed VSU officers, and as a result, they stopped pursuing him to pay maintenance as per a court’s decision.¹⁹⁴  Another woman said that her bedridden sister’s former partner—who appropriated Kw4.5 million (US$1,084) from her inheritance—bribed the VSU and as a result they delayed her sister’s case.¹⁹⁵

Legal Aid

One of the major problems that women who experience gender-based abuses—especially property grabbing and unequal distribution of their marital property upon divorce—is obtaining information on their legal rights and representation in court cases.  The Zambian government established a legal aid department that provides free legal aid for those who cannot afford to cover legal costs.  However, a number of those interviewed said that this department failed to have a meaningful impact due to its limited capacity and resources.  Lawyers at nongovernmental organizations said that there were only four legal aid lawyers who cover Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone districts.  Denial of women’s property rights is apparently not a priority, as the focus is often on crimes such as murder or aggravated robbery.¹⁹⁶ 

WLSA reported that because of the lack of financial and human resources, the Legal Aid Department was “a myth in the lives of many Zambians, particularly women.”¹⁹⁷  In its initial report on the implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Zambian government stated, “Though the Legal Aid Department is set up for the benefit of the entire population, it is restricted in its operation by serious financial constraints, which limit its ability to reach out to a wider section of the population” and that “[v]ery few people are aware of the functions of … the Legal Aid Department.”¹⁹⁸

As such, property rights violations and other abuses in the domestic sphere are often taken up by civil society organizations such as WLSA, WILDAF, the International Justice Mission, and the Women’s Legal Aid Clinic of the Zambia Law Society. 

Shelters and Social Support Services

Zambia’s government has not provided shelters for women and girls who are survivors of violence and other forms of abuse.  The only two shelters in the country are run by the Young Women’s Christian Association.  YWCA staff told Human Rights Watch, “We only have one shelter in Lusaka and it is constantly full, as it can only accommodate up to 13 women and their children.  We are advocating with the government [for the establishment of] a social housing unit for women who need it.”¹⁹⁹  YWCA is in the process of establishing another shelter outside Lusaka. YWCA’s shelter in Lusaka is supported through funds generated by YWCA’s small businesses, and through funds from Scandinavian countries.  The Ministry of Youth and Sports provides YWCA with monthly funding toward the organization’s food support programs for children in crisis.  The organization also receives small grants from the Gender and Development Division.²⁰⁰ 

One positive development is the establishment of the multi-agency Centre for Coordinated Response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, the one-stop center mentioned earlier, a partnership between the government (Zambia’s police and judiciary) and civil society organizations (YWCA, Zambia Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, WLSA, and Care Zambia).²⁰¹  The center provides integrated police, legal, counseling and health services to women.  It works closely with the University Teaching Hospital, to which it refers victims of sexual abuse who need medical treatment.  The center also receives general referrals from the University Teaching Hospital. 

Gender Policies

Zambia has a number of policies and governmental bodies that specifically address gender-based abuses.  The National Gender Policy (2000) outlined concrete measures for the government to address gender-based violence.  The government made a commitment to:

(a) promote awareness through campaigns to change harmful and negative cultural practices of society especially by health and media personnel, the police and other security and defense agencies toward gender issues; (b) encourage victims, through appropriate mechanisms, to report cases of all forms of violence and sexual abuse to the relevant law enforcement agencies; (c) establish a mechanism to co-ordinate the effort of the police, social welfare workers and legal personnel in dealing with cases of gender violence; (d) expand and strengthen the operations of the police victim support unit to effectively cover the entire country; (e) build capacity among law enforcement agencies to handle cases of gender violence by increasing their skills in counseling, psychology, social work, gender and human rights; (f) establish and encourage institutions dealing with rehabilitation of victims of gender violence; (g) promote and conduct awareness campaigns targeted at women and men on the existence of legal provisions in the Penal Code, Intestate Succession Act and other laws protecting women and those with disabilities against violence, sexual harassment and abuse; and (h) improve women's participation in law enforcement and crime prevention.²⁰²

The Strategic Plan of Action for the National Gender Policy (2004-2008)lists as government priorities the establishment of mechanisms to coordinate efforts to address gender-based violence, to “strengthen, enact and/or amend gender discriminatory laws and procedures,” to “facilitate reporting of all forms of gender violence,” and to build the capacity of the law enforcement agencies to handle cases of violence.   As discussed above, the Fifth National Development Plan also lists gender-based violence as a major problem.

Zambia has a Gender in Development Division (GIDD), which still operates under the Cabinet Office, although the president of Zambia has appointed a cabinet-level minister of gender and development in 2006.²⁰³  The GIDD is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Gender Policy, and has a very limited capacity in terms of financial and human resources.²⁰⁴  The budget allocated to GIDD in 2007 was Kw3.43billion (about US$902,656) out of a total budget of Kw12.04trillion (about US$3.17billion).²⁰⁵  The Minister of Finance told Human Rights Watch that GIDD received relatively fewer resources because resources earmarked for gender-related projects are also allocated to other ministries such as the Ministry of Education, to cover girls’ education, for example.²⁰⁶  Still, the mere .04 percent of the total national budget allocated specifically for gender is unacceptably low.

In 2000 the Zambian government drafted the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, in line with the SADC Addendum on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Children.  The plan outlined legal, socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors, as well as education, awareness, and training as key areas for action.  However, this plan remained in draft form until 2007,²⁰⁷ when GIDD revisited it.  In August 2007 a number of nongovernmental organizations including YWCA, NGOCC, and the Zambia Media Women’s Association submitted the Zambia 365 Day Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence²⁰⁸ to the Gender and Development Division for government endorsement²⁰⁹ and incorporation in the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.²¹⁰ 

The Role of NGOs

NGOs in Zambia play an important role in filling gaps created by the shortfall in the government’s response to gender-based abuses in the context of HIV/AIDS.  In addition to the roles of organizations that provide diverse services for women affected by gender-based abuses discussed in this chapter, some organizations also build the skills of women living with HIV/AIDS so they can cope better with HIV/AIDS and generate income.  Hope House, which is part of Kara Counseling, trains women living with HIV/AIDS on “positive living” and income generation.  Participants in this program receive funds for transportation.  Another program, the Circles of Hope, consists of more than 30 Lusaka-based support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS (particularly women and girls).  Affiliated with the Council of Churches in Zambia, the Circles of Hope program provides peer support on coping with HIV, violence against women, and property grabbing.  It also supports women to establish income-generating projects.²¹¹

A number of organizations are also delivering training and gender-sensitization to judges.  These include Zambia Aids Law Research and Advocacy Network (ZARAN), WiLDAF, and WLSA, all of which either receive little or no government funding.