This Zambian Woman Who Was Jailed For Seven Years For Ending Her Own Pregnancy Has Finally Been Freed
A Court in Zambia overturned Zulu’s seven-year sentence, ruling that the Court failed to properly explain the charges to her before she accepted her guilty plea.
A young woman in Zambia has finally been freed from prison after she was sentenced to seven years in prison for having an abortion.
On Monday, Jan. 16, A Court in Zambia overturned Violet Zulu’s seven-year sentence, ruling that the Court failed to properly explain the charges to Zulu before she accepted her guilty plea.
Zulu, a 24-year-old domestic worker and mother of two, had been sentenced in 2024 after terminating her pregnancy herself.
She said she had sought a legal abortion at a clinic after her partner abandoned her, but was turned away after she couldn’t afford the medication cost of 800 Zambian Kwacha (US$43), more than her month’s salary.
Abortion is legal in Zambia if doctors believe continuing the pregnancy would harm the livelihood of existing children, but abortion is still stigmatized making it hard to obtain a doctor’s approval.
Unable to afford another child and struggling to feed her two sons, she said she turned to a traditional herbal drink to end the pregnancy.
“I never wanted to abort my pregnancy, but it is the circumstances at home that forced me to do it,” she told AP.
Women’s rights groups later took up her case, arguing that she had pleaded guilty without fully understanding the legal consequences.
The Court agreed, saying it should have ensured Zulu understood the charge before accepting her plea.
Rights advocates describe the ruling as a victory for women’s rights in Zambia.
“It sends a strong message that courts must protect, not punish, women who are failed by the health system,” the director for women’s right group, Women In Law In Souther Africa, said.
More On Women's Rights
Flavie Chen
Flavie Chen
Sofia Hou
