LUSAKA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government said on Wednesday that it will seek to strengthen laws on gender-based violence cases as part of efforts to ensure successful fight against the vice.
Minister of Gender Elizabeth Phiri said despite various interventions put in place to fight the vice, the country was not making any progress in tackling the problem with an increase in reported cases.
She told reporters during a press briefing that one of the factors hindering the fight against the vice was the decision by some women to withdraw cases.
She said the government wanted the law to be strengthened so that gender-based violence cases become non-bailable and that the law should ensure that such cases are not withdrawn once reported to relevant authorities.
According to her, women were withdrawing the cases because some women are financially dependent on men and would not want their men who are bread winners to be sent to jail.
The ministry, she said, was working tirelessly with other stakeholders to sensitize society on the dangers of gender-based violence and to empower women economically.
"We are extremely concerned as government; we still seem not to be winning the battle and we need to work hard with all stakeholders. Generally, the cases have been on the rise and this means that the issue of gender-based violence especially for women is still very serious," she said.
On Monday, November 26, stakeholders launched 16 days of gender activism in order to raise awareness of gender-based violence cases in the southern African nation.
Figures released by the police showed that the number of gender-based violence cases increased to 6,114 during the third quarter of 2018 ,from 5,096 recorded during the same period last year.
