HUNDREDS OF ZAMBIANS IMPACTED BY IJM TRAININGS: KNOWLEDGE OF LEGAL RIGHTS EMPOWERS CITIZENS

"Just four days after [IJM Zambia] conducted a workshop here, people have started reporting sexual offenses to my office.”—Zambian government official

Hundreds of Zambians have equipped themselves to fight injustice in their communities by attending IJM’s legal training sessions this year. Many Zambians victimized by illegal property seizure and sexual assault are unaware of the laws designed to protect them. IJM’s Zambia office is fighting to change this: Since the beginning of this year, more than 1500 individuals have attended IJM Zambia’s trainings on property rights and sexual violence.

Land and property are often stolen from a widow by men in the extended family following the death of her husband. Despite the fact that this property theft is a criminal act according to Zambian law, property seizure is often viewed by the community as a family matter rather than a crime. Not only is property seizure illegal, it is also devastating for its victims, who can lose their spouses, their homes, and their livelihoods in rapid succession. Possessing property or land – and thereby a means of income and shelter - can literally be a matter of life or death in Zambia.

At these trainings, IJM staff present on the law of succession, which states that widows have the right to at least a portion of their deceased husbands’ property. Knowing that they are entitled to their own property empowers widows within their communities and in their interactions with potential perpetrators.

The trainings also educate community members on the Zambian laws relating to sexual violence. These sessions are making a tangible impact on the reporting of sexual crime in the communities where they have been held. This summer, in an article in the Zambian newspaper The Post, a local government official gave evidence to this fact, stating that his community knows the importance of reporting sexual offenses to the appropriate governmental authorities because IJM staff conducted a training there. “Just four days after [IJM Zambia] conducted a workshop here, people have started reporting sexual offenses to my office,” he explained.

Training sessions have also been an important tool in deepening IJM Zambia’s partnership with local police – enabling the two groups to work together to ensure that vulnerable members of their communities have access to the protections of law enforcement. This summer, IJM Zambia held its first official police training, attended by officers of the Zambian Police. The training provided the opportunity for officers and IJM staff to discuss the concerns of Zambian citizens in regards to sexual violence and illegal land and property seizure. The event was notably attended by a senior court justice official, who expressed his commitment to upholding the rights of widows and encouraged the officers gathered there to pursue these cases.

By educating themselves about the laws that affect their lives and livelihoods, attendees work with IJM to create structural changes in their communities that will uphold rights of widows and children. Pamela Mumbi, director of IJM Zambia, reports, “What a joy it is to see the look of relief on many of the women’s faces when they learn that the law protects them and the orphans against property grabbing and against sexual violence. To have someone in the flesh teach them the law and tell them they can access that justice for free is often overwhelming. We are set to have more of these trainings on a regular basis in different compounds in our city, and to different classes or groups of people within the compounds. Lives are being changed.”