Court Overturns Conviction, Affirms Reproductive Justice and Access to Abortion in Zambia

Center for Reproductive Rights
January 16, 2026

Today, the High Court of Zambia overturned the conviction of Violet Zulu and set her free from a 7-year prison sentence. Violet, a young single mother of two, was sentenced to seven years in prison for procuring her own abortion. This landmark decision corrects a grave miscarriage of justice and marks a significant step forward in the fight for women’s and girls’ rights to access reproductive health services in Zambia.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, together with Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Zambia, and the law firm of Musa Dudhia and Company Advocates (ALN Zambia), remained relentless in fighting for Violet’s release. In its judgment, the Court found that the decision of the lower court was unlawful and unjust, and that Violet’s rights were violated. The Court accordingly ordered her immediate release.

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/news/court-overturns-conviction-affirms-reproductive-justice-access-abortion-zambia/

16.01.2026

News

Center for Reproductive Rights

High Court of Zambia

Rosemary Kirui

Sharon Williams

Termination of Pregnancy Act

Violet in Zambia

Women and Law in Southern Africa

Justice Denied: How Poverty Led Zambian Mother to Jail for Procuring an Abortion

December 11, 2025
Center for Reproductive Rights

LUSAKA — Justice is often described as blind, but for Violet Zulu, a 24-year-old domestic worker from Lusaka, it was also prohibitively expensive.

In January 2024, Violet was sentenced to seven years in prison. Her crime? Terminating a pregnancy she could not afford to carry, in a health care system she could not afford to access. Now, human rights organizations led by the Center for Reproductive Rights and WLSA Zambia are challenging that conviction in the High Court of Zambia.

Continued; https://reproductiverights.org/news/justice-denied-poverty-zambian-mother-jail-abortion/

11.12.2025

Commentary

Center for Reproductive Rights

jailing women for abortion

muleza

Termination of Pregnancy Act

Building climate-resilient reproductive health care in Zambia: Ipas’s on-the-job training innovation

Ipas
December 8, 2025

For nearly two decades, Ipas Zambia has worked closely with the Ministry of Health to reduce maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortion and to expand access to safe abortion services nationwide. However, despite the progress made, persistent and emerging challenges, including the growing impact of climate change, continue to affect sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

As climate-related disasters intensify globally, Zambia has been severely affected. The country has been experiencing adverse impacts for several years, including an increase in the frequency and severity of seasonal droughts, occasional dry spells, increased temperatures in valleys, flash floods, and changes in the growing season, according to the United Nations Development Programme. These extreme weather events often cut off communities from central health facilities, limiting women’s access to timely and essential reproductive health services.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/building-climate-resilient-reproductive-health-care-in-zambia-ipass-on-the-job-training-innovation/

Ipas research shows hidden barriers to abortion access for adolescents in Africa

September 19, 2025
Ipas

When a 19-year-old in Ethiopia found herself pregnant, she made a chilling calculation. “I was sure [taking abortion pills] would either end the pregnancy or kill me,” she shared. “I preferred dying than my family hearing and getting angry with me.”

Her experience is captured along with that of many young people like her in powerful research exploring adolescent abortion care across Ethiopia, Malawi, and Zambia. Conducted by Ipas and partners—including the London School of Economics and partners across Africa—this groundbreaking study captures the voices and experiences of 313 adolescents seeking abortion-related care.

Continued: https://www.ipas.org/news/ipas-research-shows-hidden-barriers-to-abortion-access-for-adolescents-in-africa/

19.09.2025

Research

barriers to abortion access

Providing nonjudgmental and empathetic sexual and reproductive health services in Zambia

03 July 2025

Lusaka – To improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, including family planning and safe abortions, Zambia is training health workers in values clarification and attitude transformation (VCAT).

Adolescents and young people often face barriers when seeking family planning services or safe abortions at health facilities. These barriers can be rooted in stigma and discrimination, which foster disapproval and negative perceptions against people seeking or providing these services.

Continued: https://www.afro.who.int/countries/zambia/news/providing-nonjudgmental-and-empathetic-sexual-and-reproductive-health-services-zambia

03.07.2025

News

Danny Kasongo

Dr Clement Peter Lasuba

Dr Samson Chisele

Hamatanga Gwangai

Helen Mwape

Values Clarification and Attitude Transformation

The long-lasting impact of the Self-Management of Abortion Project

1 August 2024
FIGO

Following the inclusion of self-managed abortion in the updated 2022 WHO abortion guidelines, FIGO has been proud to partner with the Zambia Association of Gynaecologists & Obstetricians (ZAGO) over the past year to identify and remove barriers to the provision of self-management abortion in the country. As the Self-Management of Abortion project draws to a close, we take a moment to celebrate key achievements and reflect on its legacy.

Widening access to safe quality abortion care
Self-management of abortion (SMA) is a safe and affordable addition to existing abortion services provided within health facilities. It helps to provide care in a way that meets the needs of many women and girls who prefer to use medication abortion outside of a facility, increasing their privacy and autonomy.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/long-lasting-impact-self-management-abortion-project

01.08.2024

Commentary

FIGO

International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics

self-managed abortion

self-management of abortion

SMA

Zambia Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians

Removing barriers to access of safe abortion through self-management in Zambia

Recent international recommendations provided by the WHO (updated 2022 WHO Abortion Care Guidelines), state that in early pregnancy, medical abortion can be self-managed.

30 November 2023
FIGO

Enabling the option for self-managed abortion (SMA) can significantly improve access to safe, timely, affordable and person-centred abortion care. FIGO have been exploring different ways to support member societies to advocate for and operationalize SMA in their countries, as part of their work towards improving access to safe abortion services.

As part of this drive, FIGO have partnered with the Zambia Association of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (ZAGO) to carry out a project aimed at mainstreaming self-managed abortion as an option for women and girls in Zambia.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/removing-barriers-access-safe-abortion-through-self-management-zambia

30.11.2023

Commentary

Dr Swebby Macha

FIGO

International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics

Safe Abortion Advocacy Group

self-managed abortion

Self-Managed Abortion Advocacy project

Zambia Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians

Why Civic Engagement for Abortion Advocacy Matters

8/24/2023
by EVE BRECKER

Last year, Americans lost their federal right to abortion, despite polls that suggest favorable public opinion for abortion access is as high as 85 percent. In a country where legislation is supposed to reflect the demands of its people, this dissonance with public opinion is outrageous.

After all, democracy hinges on effective civic engagement: mechanisms that enable the public to express their concerns, and individual and collective actions designed to address these issues. While polls show the majority of the American public consistently supports abortion rights, 24 states have passed abortion bans so far. Given this landscape and the failure of our country to adopt laws that are widely supported, we must look outside the U.S. for models of strong civic engagement in order to restore abortion rights here at home.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/08/24/abortion-support-civic-engagement-advocacy-ban-laws/

Chipata Teens Abusing Cassava Leaves For Abortion

April 16, 2022
By Samuel Khwawe

Some Chipata residents have bemoaned persistent use of Cassava leaves, locally known as Katapa, to terminate pregnancies.

Abigail Sambo of an area called Feni reveals to Diamond News that most young people continue to indulge in unprotected sex and when girls fall pregnant, they opt to abort using Cassava leaves that are inserted in the cervix, a practice that she says has led to devastating consequences like death that she has witnessed so far.

Sambo says the vice is often perpetuated by adults that perform the unsafe methods on girls and young women and the vicious cycle has persisted in poor communities where many downplay awareness messages on unsafe abortion.

She made the comments during a sensitization meeting on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and Social Accountability held by the Youth Development Foundation (YDF).- Diamond TV

Source: https://zambianobserver.com/chipata-teens-abusing-cassava-leaves-for-abortion/

16.04.2022

Featured

News

Abigail Sambo

cassava leaves for abortion

Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and Social Accountability

Youth Development Foundation

Zambia – Bitter Brew: Pandemic Spurs Unsafe Abortions

The coronavirus has exacerbated the hurdles faced by Zambian women with unwanted pregnancies.

By Prudence Phiri
February 27, 2022

RUFUNSA, ZAMBIA — The concoction was dark and sludgy, a blend of berries, roots and leaves. The moon serving as a beacon, Chikondi carried the mixture back to her mud-brick hut in a white, 2-liter container and slid it under her bed. She had arranged to be alone that night, sending her two daughters, ages 9 and 12, to their grandmother’s under the pretext of helping with fieldwork. At cockcrow, she would take her first sip.

Chikondi was three months pregnant with a baby she could not afford. The 29-year-old lives in Rufunsa, a small village east of Lusaka, the capital, amid an expanse of maize fields and mud homes with grass-thatched roofs. Her boyfriend of three years was unemployed and not ready to be a father. She had long supported her girls with an assortment of farming jobs, such as preparing fields and planting crops, but the coronavirus pandemic had made even those scarce.

Continued: https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/zambia/bitter-brew-pandemic-spurs-unsafe-abortions/

27.02.2022