Community members in Mwase Mphangwe Chiefdom in Lundazi, Eastern Province of Zambia, have resolved to promote gender equality through ‘mphala,’ which is some sort of a small gathering for men and boys in the villages, where they discuss social issues informally especially in the evenings.

This happened after a gender community workshop organized by Women for Change in the area.

Making resolutions on how gender inequality was going to be resolved in the chiefdom, about 150 community members said ‘mphala’ was the most effective means of advising each other and teaching young ones on the negative impact of gender inequality and on what can be done to achieve gender equality.

Although dowry has been seen as contributing to high levels of gender based violence in most communities, the community members in Mwase Mpangwe said some men were using that as justification to beat up their wives.

“They say they beat up their wives because they have paid dowry, which they claim makes a woman their property and they can do whatever they want with her. It is not true because even those that defaulted and did not pay dowry beat up their wives,” said one community member.

“So how do they claim that it is dowry that causes gender based violence? It is lack of education, which needs to be addressed seriously through ‘mphala’ as it used to be long time ago,” said another community member.

The community members also agreed that some traditions and customs promoted inequality between women and men, the situation which they said affected the development of the chiefdom negatively. Some of the negative cultural practices that were identified as affecting girls most included the keeping of girls for about a month or two in the house, teaching them what was expected of them, when they come of age. It was interesting to note that some women were in the fore front acknowledging that secluding girls when they come of age was necessary.

“If we do not seclude them and they misbehave afterwards, it is us the elderly women who are laughed at by these same men. So, to avoid being laughed at and castigated, we are forced to keep these girls in the houses for some period to teach them how to respect elders and how to look after themselves,” said one elderly woman.

The community members later on reached an agreement that it contributed to poor performance of girls in schools and some missed examinations. They resolved to confine the girls when school was on recess so that they don’t disturb their education programme.

And giving closing remarks at the same community workshop, the senior village headperson in Mwase Mphangwe thanked Women for Change for accepting to work with them.

“If you (Women for Change) did not come here, we would not have realized that we were going on the wrong track. Thanks for helping us start getting back on track.”

He urged community members to ‘hang’ on to Women for Change as it was an organisation dedicated to bringing development in Mwase Mphangwe, and Zambia as a whole.

Women for Change expanded its operational area to Lundazi and Petauke in Eastern Province of Zambia early this year.

Women for Change is a Zambian gender focused non-governmental organisation working with communities, especially women and children in rural areas, to contribute towards sustainable human development using Popular Education Methodologies (PEM).