about zambia

official name: Republic of Zambia
capital: Lusaka
head of state: President Levy Mwanawasa
state: multi party democracy
population: 10,9 milion
independence: from Britain in 1964
languages: English (official), also Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
religion: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, traditional African 1%
currency: Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
media: The Monitor newspaper or The Post www.zamnet.zm and
Trendsetters monthly www.trendseters.org.zm ; The Zambian http://www.thezambian.com

legal wise

status of homosexuality: illegal
age of consent: 16
laws covering homosexual activity: Zambian Penal code Cap 87 Section 115; Unnatural Offences Any person who
a] has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature OR
b] has carnal knowledge of an animal OR
c] permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.[As amended by No. 26 of 1933]
The Penal code of Zambia Cap 87 Section 157 Any male person who whether in public or in private commits any act of gross indecency with another male person or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male person whether in public or in private is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years. [as amended by no 26. of 1933]
The Zambian Penal code does not mention sex between two consenting women but legally Cap 87 Section 155 covers lesbians.

background information and government attitudes: As a former British colony, Zambia inherited all of Britain's legal systems and Penal code. While Britain has repealed or modified its legal system, Zambia still continues to use these archaic laws. Laws concerning Homosexuality are in the Penal code under the infamous sodomy laws. They are put together with acts such as Bestiality under the title "Unnatural Offences".

In Zambia the public attitude is that not only is it morally wrong since, Zambia has been declared a Christian nation, but that it is insane, madness and likened to the behaviour of dogs and animals. Nobody is sympathetic, young or old, the government, all political parties, all NGO's except two [ZIMT AND AFRONET], Churches, the whole Zambian community and half of the homosexual community.

The politicians, in particular the Vice President and the President have instructed the police to arrest anybody who supports LGBT people or anyone who says that they are gay. The National Parliament has spoken strongly against the LGBT community and says that such abnormal people should be arrested.

In the last quarter of 1999 an NGO calling itself Zambia Against People with Abnormal Sexual Acts [ZAPASA] was formed to fight against homosexuals.

The Zambian registrar of societies has refused to register LGBT organisations. LEGATRA (Zambia) has been refused registration several times. LGBT organisations have continued to operate as social gatherings. They are failing to raise money for public awareness campaigns, or to start a National campaign or fund test cases to challenge the Penal Code and defend the LGBT community. At the moment we are at an impasse.

The majority of LGBT people are in the closet and refuse to be associated with the LGBT movement for fear of victimisation in their homes, schools, colleges or places of work once they are identified as homosexuals. We have an urgent need to help lesbians because they are most vulnerable in Zambian society due to its patriarchal nature. The majority of LEGATRA members are men.

In Zambia we are hard hit by the AIDS epidemic, as is the rest of Africa. We have very few counselling centres, in fact there are only two. We approached the KARA Counselling Centre to ask if they would counsel our members. They refused. They said that lesbians and gay men should be counselled by other gay people. They seem to have the idea that homosexuality is catching, a view shared by the majority of Zambian society.

A lot of gay men have been arrested and charged under the Penal code of Zambia, though after a great deal of publicity the cases are usually dropped or settled out of court. The courts throw many of these cases out of court for lack of evidence and usually the parties concerned agree on terms of payment after one has taken the other to court.

The president of LEGATRA has been very badly attacked twice. Both incidents happened last year. One incident was at a seminar in Siavonga, a CIVITAS meeting. The second was in Lusaka. That attack has seriously injured one of his eyes. There have been numerous occasions when gay men have been set upon by people and just attacked.

Transgendered people are also targeted. Some transgendered people have been publicly undressed to ascertain their gender. They are beaten, made fun of and generally ridiculed and there is nothing that we can do about it.

Zambians are generally not very militant people and faced with multiple hostilities the LGBT community closes rank. LEGATRA finds it very difficult to organise the LGBT community, as they live in perpetual fear of their lives. Author: Regina Numwa

communication

mainline telephones: 80, 000 (est)
cellular telephones: 6, 000 (1998)
internet country code: .zm
internet service providers: 3 (2000)
internet users: 15, 000 (2000)

links and contacts

http://www.africanveil.org/

Zambian Social Circle
Contact: Riva Ukwimi
Tel: +260 9669 8916
Email: rivakan@yahoo.co.uk or branhenrys@yahoo.co.nz