Creating a Zambia free from Sexual Violence

Official figures indicate that Zambia faces a profound sexual and gender-based violence crisis, a reality illustrated by the 2,646 cases reported in 2024 alone, with women and girls bearing the overwhelming burden. This alarming prevalence is sustained by a series of interconnected systemic and societal failures. Survivors are consistently failed by a justice system where only 37% of reported cases lead to prosecution and a mere 12.4% achieve conviction, a process further crippled by a critical shortage of safe houses and poor coordination between institutions. According ZNPHI, government only has 7 safe houses, in addition, YWCA revealed that they currently have only 9 across the country, while other CSO's have fewer.

These systemic gaps are reinforced by deeply entrenched harmful cultural norms, including pervasive stigma, victim-blaming, the patriarchal power structures, vulnerability imposed by poverty, myths and the influence of unregulated traditional healing practices, which collectively discourage reporting and shield perpetrators. Compounding this is a critical lack of strategic, integrated sustained awareness campaigns, which allows these destructive attitudes to persist in communities. The severe consequences of this multifaceted failure are devastatingly clear. Reports show that SGBV survivors are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV and face post-assault STI, where the rates are as high as 20-30%, dramatically compounding the profound physical and psychological trauma they already endure.

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Your participation is more than just help and your donation is more than money, it’s a lifeline for a survivor, a weapon for justice, and a voice for prevention.