The Evangelical Lutheran Church has intensified the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) in Salima.
Speaking on Wednesday during a march to Salima District Council to deliver a petition, head of the the church Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe said churches are also affected as they have members in communities who are facing GBV.
“Therefore, the church has a role to play in fighting against GBV,” he said.
Bvumbwe said the rising cases of GBV show that there is moral decadence in the country.
“As such, the church has an obligation to inculcate morality in people,” he said.
Receiving the petition, Salima district commissioner Grace Chirwa said she will deliver the petition to the right people.
However, she bemoaned the rise in GBV cases in the district.
“I am concerned with the situation in the district and country as people are behaving like animals,” she said.
Memory Dzombe, a resident, asked religious institutions to take part in fighting GBV.
“Different stakeholders should join hands in the fight against GBV,” she said.
The march was organised under the theme “We have the power of ending GBV against women and children”.
Besides the march, the church also took time to remember people who died from HIV and those that are infected with the virus.
