Shelter provision for victims of gender-based violence has become a widely accepted trend in many countries. Zambia is not an exception in this field of shelter programs. Zambia joined other Southern African Countries to pass the first ever law on gender-based violence in 2011. In pursuance of this law, known as the Anti-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Act of 2011, it provides a framework for the establishment of anti-GBV fund in order to assist victims or survivors, establishing shelters to support victims or survivors of GBV and provide emergency monetary relief. Though widely accepted in Southern Africa and other countries globally, shelters are being implemented differently cross these countries and this has shown that some countries have recorded positive impact while others are still in their inception stage of the operations, hence their impact is not yet fully evidenced and appreciated. The overarching aim of this study is to explore why the available Safehome shelters for victims of gender-based violence are inaccessible to women victims of domestic violence in Lusaka province of Zambia. This paper is anchored on the identified problem statement that leads to ongoing existing gaps in accessibility to shelters among victims of violence both in Zambia and other countries where GBV is prominent. It is also evident that although it is a wellknown fact that GBV has a cyclic nature, victims or survivors are rather passive in accessing shelter services. Using a case study, the study focused on women, whom according to global statistics are subjected to sexual and or physical violence perpetrated by intimate partners, Ages between 15 – 49 are captured in the statistics (UN Women, 2020). Focus group interviews and individual interviews with victims of violence and staff of Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) an institution implementing GBV shelter programs in Zambia were conducted. The findings of this paper have revealed that there is greater appreciation of the existing shelters among the victims but more needs to be done to improve the operations to increase accessibility.
Mushibwe, C. P., Chambeshi, M. & Mpolomoka, D. L. (2021). Valuing Safehome Shelters for Victims of Violence in Lusaka Province, Zambia. Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies, 5(9), 41 – 56. ISSN 2523-6725 (online)