A Video Circulating of a Woman Beating a Man Raises a Question Zambia Rarely Asks

A video shared on social media shows a woman beating a man, and the beating appears to be severe. We do not know who they are, when it happened or what led to it. Violence is never an answer to an argument, whoever is on the receiving end.

But it raises a question many Zambian homes avoid around men who are abused.

Women and girls remain the great majority of reported gender-based violence victims. But police figures show men are among them. In the first quarter of 2025, men were 17.4 percent of adult GBV victims, or 1,518 of 8,703 cases, according to the Zambia Police Service. In the third quarter, police put men at 21 percent of victims.

And abuse is not only a beating. Two small University of Zambia studies from 2015 recorded men describing insults, shouting, humiliation and psychological abuse alongside physical assault. They cannot say how common this is, but they show the kind of abuse that rarely leaves a mark, and rarely gets reported.

An account of a 2026 Chipata dialogue described stigma and mistrust of institutions as the barriers that keep men quiet. One survivor said police initially detained him when he sought help.

Zambia's Anti-GBV Act defines a victim as "a person." Caring about men who are abused does not take anything away from women and girls. The question is whether anyone being hurt at home can say so and be believed.

Anyone experiencing abuse can report it to the Victim Support Unit at the nearest police station or call the Zambia Police toll-free line, 991.