The Zambia Police Service has disclosed that out of the 22, 073 Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases reported in 2018, 10, 811 cases were withdrawn from various police stations, with an additional 201 cases withdrawn from the courts of law by GBV victims.
Zambia Police Spokesperson Esther Katongo told the media in an interview that from the 3,241 cases that were taken to court, 1,097 offenders were convicted, 79 cases were acquitted and over 1,000 were still pending in the courts of law.
And Women for Change Executive Director Lumba Siyanga says the organisation offers women entrepreneurship and business development training to victims, to help lessen their economic dependence on their abusers.
Ms Siyanga said the organisation has trained over 3, 000 women in entrepreneurial skills in the last five years, with startup businesses.
And Ms Siyanga added that the organisation is currently running a project where women are being encouraged to participate in decision making and leadership.
She has since urged GBV victims to be part of support groups where they can offer each other economic and social support.
Meanwhile, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) has appealed to government to actualize the Economic Empowerment Fund for survivors of gender based violence.
YWCA Programmes Manager Mirriam Mwiinga says the Economic Empowerment Fund will help reduce the number of women withdrawing cases where the abusers are their husbands, as they will be able to support themselves in instances where the perpetrators are jailed.
Very poor journalism, poor reporting. I expected to read about why GBV cases are withdrawn. But nothing! The title and the story are miles apart!
these cases are withdrawn not that the victims want to negotiate but this induced by the police themselves because the police fear to go into courts of law tabaishiba icisungu and law language ilabapita