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In an effort to reduce rampant cases of Gender Based Violence -GBV- Zambia Sugar has embarked on sensitizing communities in Mazabuka District on the negative effects associated with the vice.
The development has come at a time when Zambia Police released a report on the second quarter of 2023 in which a total of 9,988 cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) were reported countrywide compared to 7,589 GBV cases recorded in the second quarter of 2022 indicating an increase by 2,399 cases translating to a 31.61%.
With a total of 7,200 employees, Zambia Sugar, saw it fit to start fighting the scourge by raising awareness within the company through interaction with workers from all levels.
Zambia Sugar Corporate Affairs Director, Eugene Chungu, notes that the exercise which aims at educating communities on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and GBV in various areas of the sugar-producing town, will culminate into the National Voluntary, Counseling and Testing -VCT- Day on 14th August, 2023.
“We are talking with employees, Zambia Sugar has partnered with Young Women Christian Association -YWCA- so that we could enhance our programme at the Zambia Sugar Estate. We continue with our HIV/AIDS programme as incorporate issues to do with GBV. This is why this joint programme with YWCA is beneficial for us. The trend of GBV in our communities should be reversed,” says Chungu.
He adds that the Sugar giant has an Anti Sexual Harassment Policy which he says has helped curb possible cases and ensures that the work place remains productive and conducive for every employee – regardless of the position they hold.
“GBV issues should not be common in either our homes or work places, so when employees experience such campaigns, they will be able to identify abuse in general in whichever way you look at it.”
Chungu adds that the Zambia Sugar will strive to ensure that it becomes a place where no employee is abused by virtue of who they are. Our objective is rid all types of abuses by the end of the campaign by reporting to relevant authorities.
He says that the company has decided to take advantage of its huge number of employees as a starting point to help spread GBV related information in order to help mend divided families owing to the devastating effects of the vice.
And Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the sensitization exercise, Purity Syamalala, who has been with the company for the past four years – working as a Seasonal Supervisor in the Department of Agriculture, says that her and her colleagues will echo the contents of the programme to their communities if HIV/AIDS and GBV cases are to reduce.
Syamalala says the partnership between Zambia Sugar and YWCA has benefited the employees, stressing that it is high time GBV cases are highlighted as they are observed at community level to protect women and girls who she says are the main victims who suffer from the vice.
The initiative which started about two years ago through Nakambala Private School, one of the schools run by Zambia Sugar, has scaled up to different townships in the district which has seen a sharp rise in GBV reports which in many instances are not reported.
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