Prominent Zambian women spoke about the challenges that they are facing which range from violence to verbal abuse especially on social media.
I don’t think that it’s just women in opposition who face violence, because when we speak about violence, it’s not just about physical. It’s not just somebody coming to beat me. It’s also very verbal..
When somebody stands up and says: You are a Prostitute! Because you have this position, that does something to you, psychologically, even the way people will view you in your community is much different.
We also need to bear in mind that these are people’s wives people’s mothers, you can imagine the shock that somebody goes through when they hear, you know, it’s all over the paper their wife has been called a prostitute.
You can ignore it once you can ignore it twice but there comes a point where even other people begin to ask the question, is it possible that maybe she is in fact a prostitute, even though you are NOT.
Lack Of Unity Among Women
I think that there’s need for, especially unity among women here, there’s need for women to speak up for each other and I’m so grateful that you know a lot of women came out and supported me in condemning, you know, certain thathappened a few months ago on some FM radio.
But again, I think there’s also need to change the framework, because you have women in Parliament and that’s I think something that’s coming out a lot in this conversation, but the question is what are those women doing what are those women, saying, to protect their fellow women, because it can’t be a conversation we have every five years. As we approach elections we start talking about and on International Women’s Day, rather put this across you that we’re sitting here the four of us, and we’re talking about it and promoting women’s rights and everything else.
After International Women’s Day. do you three get together as women because the men do it.
The opposition and the ruling party. Those guys are friends in Parliament , they have drinks together, they hang out together.
As women, do we ladies do this? let me tell you?
In fact, I have more friends even when I was in Parliament, with male counterpart, and you know that’s when we met twice, I don’t know. We clearly have a problem. We have a very big problem. We shouldn’t even pretend.
