WLSA FIGHTING GBV AND COVID-19

In its quest to empower people with information on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and the deadly coronavirus pandemic, Women and Law in Southern Africa with support from Equality Now has gone flat out conducting a series of engagement meetings with various stakeholders in Luangwa District of Lusaka Province.

The meetings which were held in Yapite, Chiliwa Navedo and Nyakwindi villages and the Council Chambers were aimed at sensitizing people on the dangers of the Corona Virus and the scourge of GBV in a bid to supplement the government's efforts in fighting the two issues at hand.

More than 150 children and 300 hundred adults were reached out during the meetings which were conducted in form of focus group discussions, Radio Programs and Drama performances with community members, traditional leaders, the media and duty bearers among other stakeholders.

On Gender-Based Violence, it was revealed that like in other areas, there has been an exponential increase in cases of GBV in these villages as many women are in ‘lockdown’ at home with their abusers while being cut off from normal support services due to restricted movement and social isolation measures.

It was established among others that some of the GBV cases the areas record include defilement, domestic violence, rape and child marriages although some communities were resistant to come out in the open and report the vices during the meetings.

The communities however singled out Physical violence, Defilement and Child Marriages as the most prominent ones.

WLSA National Director, Maureen Samulela Tresha said, “the WLSA trip to this place relates to Sexual Gender-Based Violence as well as Covid-19 pandemic. Luangwa is one of our catchment areas for the project and we are working very closely with young girls. So our purpose was just to ensure that we are reminding the girls and people in the district at large about the laws relating to GBV and SGBV. This is coming from a background that in this particular period there are a lot of GBV cases being perpetrated  behind closed doors (http://www.5fm.co.zm/2020-gbv-annual-statistics-increase/ ) So we encourage people to open up and be able to report and  even as they report, they need to be protected against Covid-19 pandemic which has continued to claim people’s lives and they don’t contract the virus in the process.”

“We have a coalition which we work with when we are in Luangwa and it involves the judiciary, the police and community development among others who are dealing with issues relating to SGBV and adolescents. So as we are working with them we get to assess the challenges they face during their work in light of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mrs. Tresha explained.

Mrs Tresha added that some of the challenges they have noted are that “the court has to ensure that they are dealing with very few cases just to avoid the congestion.

She said the same applies to the police as they have to ensure that there is no overcrowding at places of work.

And Sombo Masuwa WLSA Legal Assistant said in her presentations during one of the meetings in yapite village that,  "GBV affects every member of the community. There are four types of GBV among them physical abuse (spouse battering), psychological or emotional abuse, economic abuse (property grabbing) and Sexual Abuse [child, marriages, defilement, rape] case.

"As a community, you need to desist from engaging in such GBV, so that you can live peacefully in your families and the community at large," she advised.

And one of the participants of the meeting in Yapite, Mary Makunka aged 20 aged said Poverty and generally, the love of money is one of the reasons some parents choose to marry off their children in the name of raising money to support the family. Parents need to support their children so that when they complete their Grade 12 can they can pursue their careers"

And a senior citizen, who is 70 years old Lucia Tembo also of Yapite revealed that when she approached one of her granddaughters who got pregnant three times from different men in a space of about 12 months she was told that they engage in illicit activities because they are not given money by their parents to meet the cost of their daily needs.

She said her granddaughter contended that sleeping with men in exchange for money was helping her to raise the money she needed to buy her basic needs.

She advised school-going children not to get involved in sexual activities at a tender age.

But one of the parents, Joseph Mphuka argued that what is causing child marriages is that children want to experiment sex which is leading to them getting pregnant at a tender age while they are still in school.

Meanwhile, Ms. Masuwa encouraged parents to explore other income-generating activities than raising money by marrying off their children as marrying off children will translate into the future generation having no educated people.

On Coronavirus Ms. Mauwa, "said the disease can affect anyone just like GBV hence the need for every member of the community to strictly observe the health guidelines on Covid-19.

She indicated that records show that people are dying from the virus so the need to observe at least one-meter social distancing, wearing of face masks, hand sanitizing  and washing hands with soap frequently remain critical."

She said as schools will be re-opening, children must observe the health guidelines to protect themselves and others against the virus.

And Ms. Masuwa said while some people have been receptive to the sensitization they have been conducting both on Covid-19 and GBV, women's and Children's rights others have been resistant as they do not want to report GBV cases.

She observed a positive change in the manner they have been observing Covid-19 health guidelines as most of the people are now masking up, and observing social distance among others.

She added that on GBV People are now able to talk about challenges they are facing in relation to the scourge.

Ms. Masuwa said people now understand the dangers of GBV but that there is still a need to address challenges which hinder them from reporting GBV cases which occur within families.

She further urged the local people to be reporting cases of GBV even during the covid period as services are still being offered.