2023 RECORDS NEARLY 43 000 GBV CASES, 137 DIE
Zambia Police Service recorded 42,965 cases of Gender Based Violence in 2023 out of which 30,021 were criminal with 137 murder cases.
The murder victims include 68 women, 37 men, 20 boys and 12 girls.
The report indicate that 24,989 women, 7,574 men and 10, 402 children were reportedly abused out of which 8, 200 were criminal cases comprising 6,311 girls and 1,889 boys.
Out of the 24,989 women and 7,574 men who were abused, 17,489 women and 4,332 men were abused under the criminal case category respectively.
And Police recorded 1,238 GBV cases during the 2023 16 Days of Activism against GBV comprising 148 men, 804 women, 46 boys and 240 girls.
In terms of gender vulnerability, a total of 32,558 females and 10,407 males were abused countrywide during the period under review.
A total number of 1,835 men, 8,642 women, 2,958 girls and 1,079 boys were counseled under the criminal case category whereas 1,401 men, 3,193 women, 630 girls and 549 boys received counselling as offenders under the non-criminal case category.
Police referred 2,115 victims of GBV under the non – criminal category to other institutions for further support.
Police records indicate that 33,536 cases of GBV were recorded in 2022 out of which 103 were murder cases.
And Police recorded 1,238 GBV cases during the 2023 16 Days of Activism against GBV comprising 148 men, 804 women, 46 boys and 240 girls. In 2022, Police recorded 690 cases of GBV during the same period.
In terms of psycho-social support, 45 victims and 35 offenders were counseled during the 16 Days of Activism against GBV. In 2022 Police officers counseled 165 victims and 97 offenders.
Under forms of abuse reported, the highest reports filed were under physical abuse totaling 16,588 of the 42,965 GBV reports received.
Under the criminal case category, totaling 30,021 cases, 16,588 were under physical abuse against 13,352 cases recorded in 2022.
Out of the 30,021 criminal cases recorded, Police recorded 7,121 reports of Economic abuse compared with 5,657 cases recorded in 2022 while 4,266 reports of Sexual Abuse were recorded out of 42,965 GBV reports recorded as compared with 3,689 cases recorded in 2022.
2,033 reports of Emotional abuse under the criminal case category were recorded compared with 1,557 cases reported in 2022.
2,961 girls and 22 boys were reportedly defiled during the year under review. Lusaka Province recorded the highest number with 919 cases while Northern Province recording the lowest with 101 defilement cases.
Lusaka Province recorded the highest GBV criminal cases with 7,778 cases followed by Copperbelt Province with 4,515 cases. Northern Province recorded the lowest with 622 cases.
Further, Police recorded six cases of human trafficking during the period under review comprising 4 girls and 2 boys compared with 19 cases reported in 2022.
Under Economic abuse, 7,121 cases were recorded countrywide. 3,071 cases of Failing to Provide Necessaries of life and 2,945 cases of Neglecting to provide necessaries were recorded.
Under Emotional or Psychological abuse, VSU recorded 2,033 cases. 717 cases of the Use of Insulting language were recorded against 490 women, 215 men, 9 girls and 3 boys respectively. In addition, a total of 364 cases of Threatening Violence were reported by 299 women, 59 men, 4 boys and 2 girls.
Some cases under the criminal case category are still under investigations while some offenders are still appearing in various courts of law and others already serving their sentences in various Correctional facilities.
This is contained in a statement issued by
Deputy Police Public Relations Officer Danny Mwale.