Zambia reported more than 42,000 cases of gender-based violence in both 2023 and 2024.
In Zambia’s drought-stricken fishing camps, the price for using a boat isn’t always paid in money.
As more women turn to the fishing trade as a means for survival, many are being forced into exploitative “sex-for-fish” arrangements – a troubling trend exacerbated by the sudden withdrawal of foreign aid from the United States.
A new report from the NGO ActionAid highlights the growing vulnerability of women to gender-based violence. It underscores how prolonged droughts have forced many Zambian women to seek alternative livelihoods, leaving them increasingly exposed to coercion and abuse in an industry defined by power imbalances and limited options.
Climate change and economic desperation drive new risks
Zambia is on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
Last year, severe droughts put more than six million Zambians from farming families at risk of acute food shortages and malnutrition. Half of the country’s farmlands faced total crop failure, leading the government to declare a national disaster and emergency.
As Zambia experiences increasingly severe droughts like these, rural communities are struggling to adapt. Water shortages and failed harvests have intensified food insecurity, pushing many women into informal fishing to survive.
One woman named Martha* detailed the dangers women like her face because of it.
Martha owns a net but not a boat so she cannot go out on the water herself. Instead, she relies on fishermen to get the day’s catch. But they don’t ask for money in return.
“They demand sex in exchange for cheaper fish,” she told ActionAid.
Another woman, Palekelo*, who turned to fishing when her farm dried up, also experienced similar demands. “The fisherman told me I could come with my money but if I didn’t pass by his house to spend the night, I was not going to get any fish,” she explained.
Funding gaps disrupt efforts to mitigate harm
Zambia has one of the highest rates of reported gender-based violence in the world. More than a third of women and girls in the country have experienced physical violence in their lives, according to the UN.
Humanitarian groups have worked to address these and other issues for decades. ActionAid, for example, has had a presence in the country since 1996.
Since 2023, ActionAid’s USAID-supported initiative worked to mitigate gender-based violence through community-led women’s watch groups, safe houses and awareness campaigns that helped to report abuses and provide support services.
The United States’ decision to slash foreign aid – compounded by steep reductions in funding from the UK and European countries – has forced the programme to close at an inflection point.
The ongoing drought could cause 5.8 million people, or about a third of the population, to face high levels of food insecurity, according to independent data provider ACAPS.
Meanwhile, more than 42,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported across the country in each of the past two years. Many cases go unreported, ActionAid explains, meaning that the true number is likely much higher.
“No mother should have to trade her safety to keep her children from starving. But that is the reality women in Zambia now face. It is unacceptable that, in 2025, we are forcing women into a cycle of violence and abuse simply because governments have chosen to turn their backs,” says Faides TembaTemba, country director for ActionAid Zambia.
A growing challenge for climate-linked aid
The situation in Zambia highlights a larger debate over the role of international aid in addressing climate-induced social challenges.
While wealthier nations have committed to providing additional funding for climate adaptation, cuts to existing aid programs raise concerns about how the most vulnerable populations will be supported.
After US President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration made sweeping cuts to USAID, the country’s foreign aid programme. Thousands of employees were put on leave and contractors terminated as everything from malaria-fighting initiatives in Myanmar to translator services in Ukraine were halted.
“The reckless decision to slash USAID funding is having an immediate and severe impact on the world’s most vulnerable. It has left women and girls in Zambia at risk of exploitation, stripping away critical support with no plan to replace it,” says Niranjali Amerasinghe, executive director of ActionAid USA.
“This is not about efficiency; it’s about a callous disregard for those in need.”
