THE reported jailing of a Lusaka woman for two years for slicing out her husband’s eye, using a broken bottle, after a drinking spree, must have sent devastating waves to many, especially the menfolk.
Sadly, men usually do not speak out about their experiences in such circumstances due to the shame attached to them being victims of female-effected domestic cruelty.
We all know that gender crime is a hate crime committed against an exact gender which may include some instances of rape, genital mutilation, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and physical harm.
Gender violence is also the term used to symbolize injury meted on individuals and groups connected to normative empathies of their sexual characteristics.
Lusaka Magistrate, Judith Chiyayika, on Tuesday sent Gwendolyn Kabesa, 27, to prison after finding her guilty of one count of unlawfully wounding Mr Andrew Muyoma, a police officer of Matero Township in Lusaka.
The incident happened on April 18, 2019, around 02:00 hours, outside Porps night club, located opposite Matero Police Station.
According to the 29-year-old Muyoma, on April 17, 2019, he went to Florida Street, notoriously known as Devil Street in Emmasdale area, to watch football after which his two friends and Kabesa joined him in drinking beer.
He said after midnight, they moved to Porps and before they could get inside, he told his friends that he wanted to go home but Kabesa argued against the idea of abandoning the drinking binge as she did not want him to leave.
“Shortly after that, she got a solid bottle and hit me on my left chick and it eventually broke. She then started slicing my face using the same broken bottle and I sustained multiple cuts on my face,” he said.
“I asked her why she had done that but she pounced on me again and stabbed me on my eyes. There and then my friends took me together with her to the police where I was issued with a medical report and she was detained,” Mr. Muyoma said in his statement to the police.
He was later admitted to University Teaching Hospital where he was operated on after some days and one of his eyes had to be removed because it was completely damaged.
And an eyewitness Justine Malama, said on the material date he saw Mr. Muyoma and Kabesa going into Porps and that they seemed to be arguing but a door bouncer chased them out of the club.
Mr. Malama said the couple continued arguing outside and a fight ensued. He said Kabesa then got a solid bottle, broke it, and started pricking the victim on his face.
While admitting that male victims of domestic violence are disinclined to speak out about their ordeals due to fear of being ridiculed by others, such as their family members, peers and police officers, what happened to Mr Muyoma is obnoxious and must be condemned by all peace-loving Zambians.
Irrefutably, gender-based violence is a marvel deeply rooted in gender disparity, and continues to be one of the most noteworthy human rights violations in Zambia today, only it is getting worse.
It is an iniquity which should not be left to government alone. We think organisations such as the Church, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and many others, should roll up their sleeves and get to work against all forms of GBV, be it against women or men.
