Authored By: Sally Miyambo Kangwa
The University of Zambia
1. Introduction
Human rights are entitlements that people have simply because they are human. Although it is said that human rights promote equality among all human beings, in practice that is not always the case. Women are among the vulnerable groups in society whose rights are still infringed upon time and again. For this reason, it is imperative that women’s rights are protected and that gender equality is promoted and enforced. Zambia has constitutional, statutory and international obligations concerning the protection of women’s rights.
Zambia’s legal framework provides various protections intended to promote equality and safeguard women’s rights. However, the existence of legal guarantees does not necessarily translate into their effective enjoyment or enforcement.
This article argues that although Zambia has developed a substantial legal framework for the protection of women’s rights, significant gaps between formal legal protection and practical enforcement continue to undermine substantive gender equality. Effective protection therefore requires not merely the existence of rights, but accessible remedies, effective implementation and greater harmonisation between constitutional guarantees, legislation and customary practices.
This article will examine the legal framework for women’s rights in Zambia, formal and substantive equality, the enforcement gap with regard to women’s rights, and whether the existing framework is sufficient. It will then provide recommendations.
2. The Legal Framework for Women’s Rights in Zambia
2.1 Constitutional protection
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and any other law or practice that is inconsistent with its provisions is void to the extent of its inconsistency.1 The Constitution of Zambia houses the Bill of Rights under Part III, which provides for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual. The Constitution recognises every person in Zambia as equal before the law and entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual.2 This entails that the fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as their limitations, apply to each person equally despite their differences as persons. The Bill of Rights guarantees equality regardless of sex, skin colour, creed or belief, tribe or clan, political party, origin or race.3
It also provides for protection from discrimination on the ground of gender, protecting both males and females. The Constitution defines “discrimination” as directly or indirectly treating a person differently on the basis of that person’s birth, race, sex, origin, colour, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, tribe, pregnancy, health, or marital, ethnic, social or economic status.4
Although the Constitution protects women from discrimination, the promotion of these rights requires much more than providing for them in the Constitution. In practice, women in Zambia still experience discrimination. For instance, in the Ngoni tradition, succession is strictly patrilineal and hence a woman cannot become a leader despite being competent to do so. This practice is discriminatory towards women, as it implies that men are superior to women and more capable of taking up leadership and decision-making roles. Competence, and not gender, should be the determining factor in who obtains a leadership or decision-making role.
The Constitution also provides for protection from inhuman treatment; it prohibits cruel treatment and torture.5 Despite this constitutional protection, in practice women in Zambia still experience torture and inhuman treatment by virtue of female genital mutilation, such as the pulling of the labia, which is practised by some customs in Zambia.
Despite these rights being guaranteed in the Constitution, it permits exceptions to the prohibition of discrimination under customary and personal laws (such as adoption, marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other matters of personal law),6 creating tension between statutory rights and customary practice. Additionally, practical implementation, socioeconomic biases and access-to-justice hurdles continue to limit the full realisation of these protections, particularly outside major urban centres.
2.2 Statutory protection
Some of the most relevant Zambian legislation protecting women includes the Gender Equity and Equality Act and the Employment Code Act.
Gender Equity and Equality Act No. 22 of 2015
This Act is an important law in Zambia that promotes equal rights, opportunities and integration for both men and women across all spheres of life.7 It was enacted by the Parliament of Zambia and officially came into effect in 2016. The Act established the Gender Equity and Equality Commission,8 whose functions include ensuring that gender equality and equity are attained and mainstreamed in public and private affairs and structures, as well as monitoring, investigating, researching, educating, lobbying, advising and reporting on issues concerning gender equity and equality, inter alia.9 The Act bans discrimination by public or private bodies in employment, education, economic life and public or political participation.10
The Gender Equity and Equality Act has provided a strong legal foundation for women’s rights. It establishes clear standards against discrimination in areas such as education and employment, while explicitly criminalising sexual harassment in workplaces and public spaces.11 Despite these provisions, the Act’s real-world effectiveness remains limited by weak enforcement and persistent cultural norms.
Inadequate resources and poor institutional follow-through hinder the practical application of the law. Additionally, deeply rooted patriarchal norms and traditional practices continue to limit women’s ownership of land and property under customary tenure systems. Furthermore, women remain underrepresented in political leadership and face high rates of gender-based violence.
Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019
This Act was enacted, inter alia, to regulate the employment of persons and to prohibit discrimination at an undertaking. In an effort to promote gender equity and equality, Zambia has incorporated some of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) into the Employment Code Act under Part 1 Section 5.12 That section provides for the promotion of equal opportunity in employment and the elimination of discrimination in an undertaking.13
The Employment Code Act has established strong, progressive legal frameworks on paper, but its practical effectiveness in fully protecting women’s rights remains limited by enforcement gaps and entrenched social norms. One of the challenges is that labour inspectorates often lack the resources or reach to monitor compliance effectively, particularly in the informal sector and small private businesses where many women work.
2.3 International and regional obligations
Zambia has ratified major frameworks, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
CEDAW is one of the many international instruments that Zambia has ratified. Through its provisions, states parties are obliged to ensure that equality and equity are achieved. Article 2 requires states to pursue, by all appropriate means, a policy of eliminating discrimination against women, and to take concrete steps to eliminate discriminatory laws, policies and practices in the national legal framework.14 Additionally, Article 3 requires states parties to take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development and advancement of women, so as to guarantee them the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of equality with men.15
Article 11 further emphasises that states must provide women with the same opportunities as men in employment, including in promotion, training, equal remuneration, social security and safe working conditions.16 These provisions have been enshrined in domestic instruments such as the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019 and the Gender Equity and Equality Act No. 22 of 2015.
In Sara Longwe v Intercontinental Hotels,17 Justice Musumali opined that even if international treaties like CEDAW are not fully written into domestic law, Zambia’s ratification of them shows an intention to be bound by their provisions. The petitioner, Sara Longwe, referred to this convention when she argued that the hotel’s policy that women were not allowed to enter the bar unaccompanied violated her constitutional right to freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination.
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
This protocol is also referred to as the “Maputo Protocol”. Zambia is among the member states of the African Union that have ratified it. Some of the main provisions relating to gender equality are found in Article 2 of the Protocol, which provides for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women through appropriate legislative, institutional and other measures.18
Furthermore, Article 12 of the Protocol emphasises the duty of states to take appropriate measures to ensure that equal educational opportunities are provided, while also providing for protection from all forms of abuse as per Article 12(c).19
3. From Formal Equality to Substantive Equality
According to formal equality, the law treats men and women equally. Substantive equality, on the other hand, refers to how the law and institutions address the actual barriers that prevent women from enjoying equality in practice.
Zambia’s framework demonstrates a commitment to formal equality. However, substantive equality requires more than prohibiting discrimination; it requires addressing the social, cultural, economic and institutional conditions that perpetuate women’s disadvantage. Formal equality focuses on equal treatment under the law, whereas substantive equality recognises that identical treatment may not be sufficient where existing social, cultural or economic conditions place one group at a disadvantage.
An example of a cultural condition that perpetuates a woman’s disadvantage is the Ngoni succession practice referred to earlier in this article. It demonstrates how a constitutional commitment to equality can coexist with practices that produce unequal outcomes.
This raises the question of whether the principal challenge in Zambia is the absence of legal protection, or the failure to effectively implement and enforce existing protections. The next section considers that question.
4. The Enforcement Gap
4.1 Weak implementation and institutional enforcement
The laws are progressive on paper, but implementation is constrained by inadequate resources, institutional follow-through and limited monitoring. Reference can be made to the previous discussion of the Gender Equity and Equality Act and the Employment Code Act.
What is the value of a right if the institution responsible for enforcing it lacks the capacity to do so?
Some of the barriers to the enforcement of these rights are inadequate institutional resources, weak monitoring, limited enforcement capacity, difficulties in reaching women outside urban centres and limited access to legal remedies.
4.2 Customary practices and the enforcement of women’s rights
How should Zambia reconcile customary law with constitutional commitments to gender equality?
Customary succession and leadership in many customs in Zambia are patrilineal. As a result, they bring about gender discrimination, which creates tension with equality and makes it difficult to enforce. There is a need for harmonisation between customary practices and constitutional human rights guarantees.
4.3 Access to justice
A woman may have a right, a law protecting that right and a remedy for its violation. Yet if she cannot afford legal representation, does not know her rights, cannot reach the relevant institution, or faces social or economic dependence, the right may be practically inaccessible. Legal recognition does not automatically equal effective protection.
5. Is Zambia’s Existing Framework Sufficient?
The effectiveness of a human rights framework cannot be measured solely by the number of rights recognised in legislation. It must also be measured by whether those rights can be meaningfully exercised and enforced.
Legal guarantees, weak implementation, customary barriers, socioeconomic barriers and access-to-justice problems all contribute to an enforcement gap.
One could argue that Zambia does not necessarily suffer from a lack of legal protection, but rather from inadequate implementation of an otherwise comprehensive framework. This argument has merit, but it does not entirely resolve the problem, because effective implementation itself depends upon adequate institutional mechanisms, accessible remedies and consistency between different sources of law.
6. Recommendations
- Strengthen enforcement institutions. If institutions lack resources and capacity, legal protections remain weak.
- Improve access to justice. This is particularly important for women who face financial, geographical or informational barriers.
- Harmonise customary and statutory/constitutional protections. Where customary practices conflict with women’s constitutional rights, the legal framework should provide clearer mechanisms for resolving that conflict.
- Strengthen implementation and monitoring. Existing laws should be accompanied by effective monitoring mechanisms and accountability.
7. Conclusion
The central challenge for women’s rights in Zambia is therefore not simply whether women possess rights, but whether those rights can be effectively enjoyed, protected and enforced. Zambia has made important progress, but equality on paper is insufficient.
For women in Zambia, equality must therefore move beyond the pages of legislation and become a lived and enforceable reality.
Footnote(S):
1 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.1(1).
2 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.11.
3 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.23.
4 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.266.
5 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.15.
6 Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016, art.23(4).
7 Gender Equity and Equality Act No.22 of 2025.
8 Gender Equity and Equality Act No.22 of 2025, sec.6.
9 Gender Equity and Equality Act No.22 of 2025, sec.9(1)(a) and (b).
10 Gender Equity and Equality Act No.22 of 2025, sec.15.
11 Chola Musonda Musatwe and Collins Nkumbwa, ‘An analysis of the gender equity laws in Zambia (Amulufeblog, 2026) < https://www.amulufeblog.com/2026/04/an-analysis-of-gender-equality-lawsin.html?m=1 >accessed 23 August 2026.
12 Ibid
13 Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019, sec.5(1).
14 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13, art.2.
15 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13, art.3.
16 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13, art.11.
17 Sera Longwe v Intercontinental Hotels(1992).
18 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005) 3268 UNTS, art. 2.
19 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005) 3268 UNTS, art. 12.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act no.2 of 2016
Statutes
Employment Code Act No.3 of 2019
Gender Equity and Equality Act [No.22 of 2025]
Treaties and Conventions
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981) 1249 UNTS 13
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005) 3268 UNTS
Case Law
Sera Longwe v Intercontinental Hotels(1992)
SECONDARY SOURCES
Articles
Musatwe C.M and Nkumbwa C. , ‘An Analysis of the gender equity laws in Zambia’ (Amulufeblog, 2026) < https://www.amulufeblog.com/2026/04/an-analysis-of-gender-equality-laws-in.html?m=1 > accessed 23rd August, 2026
