A turning point on customs.

In Zambia, women are using traditional beliefs to violate the rights of fellow women. Traditional marriage counsellors have been using inhuman practices to teach women 'acceptable' behaviour required from a married woman. This could soon come to an end, for the government and NGOs are taking action to curb these practices.

The struggle against use of traditional beliefs to suppress women by fellow women in Zambia has entered a new phase after the arrest and sentencing of two traditional marriage counsellors.

In a landmark ruling on 3 March 2003, a Lusaka magistrate court sentenced two traditional marriage counsellors to 10 months in prison with hard labour for pinching the thighs and private parts of Mwanjeleka, an 18-year-old housewife.

The traditional marriage counsellors, commonly known as Alangizi, a local language word meaning teacher or one who directs, are sought after by many Zambian families. Mwanjeleka's mother and father in-law, with the aim of reconciling the couple who were facing marital problems, hired the two marriage counsellors Phiri, 35, and Njovu, 37. Mwanjeleka claimed that her mother-in-law always though that she was disrespectful to her husband and mother-in-law.

The traditional marriage counsellors were engaged "to teach" the young housewife acceptable behaviour required from a married woman. Mwanjeleka met her fate on 29 January, 2003, when her mother-in-law visited her in the company of two traditional marriage counsellors. She told her that the two women were tasked with teaching her how to take care of her home and husband through the traditional "pinching lesson."

Mwanjeleka was stripped naked and the marriage counsellors, in the presence of her mother-in-law, began to pinch her, removing some of the skin on her thighs. They then applied some salt on the wounds and later poured hot water on her. She was made to lick her mother-in-law's feet before she was released when her husband managed to raise part of the K120,000 (US$ 30) they demanded as payment for their services.

The marriage counsellors threatened to strike the young housewife further if she broke the traditional practice of keeping the punishment as a "secret." But she broke the silence and reported the matter to police who in turn referred it to the court.

According to the Zambian traditional custom, parents allowed marriage counsellors during initiation ceremonies to pinch the thighs of their 'naughty' daughters to teach girls how to be submissive to their husbands when they married.

Passing the verdict, senior magistrate Mwansa Chanda said courts would not tolerate offences committed in the name of traditional beliefs. Chanda said: "I have considered what you have said in mitigation and the fact that you are first offenders, however, this sentence will be a warning to such would-be offenders that such actions are punishable."

Gender activists said Mwanjeleka was one of many Zambian women who are subjected to inhuman treatment by fellow women in the name of traditional beliefs. They hailed the court ruling as advancing the struggle against the use of traditional practices by women to suppress fellow women. They appealed to all courts to emulate the verdict passed on traditional marriage counsellors, stating that it was in line with Zambia's position on women's human rights.

The Zambian government is a signatory to the 1995 Beijing Declaration, whose Platform for Action mission statement declares that the human rights of women and the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights, and that the fundamental freedoms of all women must be protected throughout their life cycle.

The Non Governmental Organisation Coordinating Committee (NGOCC), a national umbrella body for women's groups in Zambia, has welcomed the landmark ruling, which it says will help in breaking the silence over the use of traditional beliefs to suppress women. NGOCC chairperson, Lucy Muyoyeta has called upon victims of these practices to report it.

Constance Lewanika, executive director of the national chapter of Women in Law and Development in Africa, said women in Zambia should not keep quiet while experiencing injustice for fear of breaking traditional culture practices. She pointed out that many women were being subjected to various human rights violations but they keep quiet because they follow the custom of not revealing "family secrets."

Alangizi Association of Zambia, a national grouping for traditional marriage counsellors, said it was no longer a taboo to expose inhuman practices being inflicted on women in the name of traditional beliefs. Alangizi Association president Iress Phiri said that in modern Zambia there was no room for teaching girls how to take care of a home and a husband through physical torture during initiation ceremonies.

Phiri said her association has embarked on a nation-wide programme of imparting better marriage counselling practices to its members. She said time has come for all oppressed women to expose inhuman traditional beliefs, which have been kept as a secret for a long time.

Reprinted with permission from African Women Journal, June-July 2003