NGOCC executive director Engwase Mwale says Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has remained a challenge because most perpetrators are bread winners.

Speaking at during an Oxfam Zambia sponsored TV programme dubbed “I care about her” on Muvi Television in Lusaka, Mwale observed that most GBV cases were not being reported because perpetrators were bread winners.

“Cases of violence have continued to rise in Zambia. But unfortunately, most of these cases go away unreported simply because most of the perpetrators are bread winners and so there are all these questions of who takes care of the family when they are jailed and punished for there crimes. But then, what’s more annoying is that violence still carries the face of a woman world over. And when a girl or woman is violated, it takes away there human rights and their self esteem. So how do we break this violence between women and men? We need coordinated effort from all us as member organisations and members of communities,” Mwale said.

And Mwale said there was need for government to establish and anti gender-based violence fund which could strictly be used to deal cases of GBV in the country.

“Gender-based violence has got potential to take away this country’s development if left unattended to. That is why we as NGOCC are lobbing the government to come up with a deliberate to specifically deal with cases of GBV, this fund should be able to provide equal representation to victims of GBV be it men or men so that this can be dealt with aggressively,” said Mwale.

Meanwhile, Generation Alive programmes manager Womba Wanki said government should appoint independent judges to take over the handling of matters at the fast track court from High Court judges and Magistrates in order to arrest the delays in the determination of matters.

Wanki was responding to a question from a University of Zambia (UNZA) student who wanted to find out what the Judiciary was doing to fight cases of GBV in the country.

“The Judiciary through the fast track court has been doing quiet very well and we are almost getting there but the only challenge is that there are a lot of delays when it comes to determining matters in the fast track court because these matters are also handled by High Court judges and marshals from the Magistrate Courts who are extremely busy. So there is need for government to appoint independent judges to be dealing with cases in the fast track court because that way it will make the whole process easy and this what we are trying to lobby,” said Wanki.

Meanwhile, musician Brian Bwembwa alias B-flow, who is also Oxfam’s ‘I care about her’ campaign ambassador, pledged continued advocacy against GBV through songs and campaigns against the vice throughout the country come next year.