PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Phone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@menandboys.net
Zambia’s Men and Boys Confront Unequal Realities
August 22, 2025 – Recent data from Zambia highlights troubling disparities affecting men and boys, with clear disadvantages in health, safety, and survival compared to women, realities too often overlooked in national conversations.
Health:
Life expectancy in Zambia favors women by nearly 5 years—68.67 for females vs. 63.94 for males (1). Adult male mortality is also significantly higher: 232.5 deaths per 1,000 men compared to 155.3 for women (2).
Homicide:
Men are disproportionately affected by intentional killings—8.5 per 100,000 vs. 2.0 for women (3)(4).
Suicide:
Men die by suicide at a rate more than three times higher than women—11.3 per 100,000 vs. 3.1 (5)(6).
Domestic Violence:
Both sexes face severe intimate partner violence: 36% of women and 27% of men reported physical violence in the past year. Yet 60% of men never told anyone, and only 4% joined community activities on gender-based violence, showing the lack of awareness and support for male victims (7).
Homelessness:
The 2022 Census recorded 4,063 homeless individuals, 55% of whom were men (8).
Workplace:
Occupational injuries remain common: 10% of men vs. 6.2% of women reported workplace injuries (9).
Conclusion:
Zambia must act now to confront the struggles of men and boys because only by addressing these disparities can the country achieve true gender equality and build a more inclusive future for all.
The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization that is working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world. Achieving #GenderEqualityForMen will also benefit women. https://www.menandboys.net/
Links:
1.https://www.statista.com/statistics/971277/life-expectancy-at-birth-in-zambia-by-gender/
2.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-amrt?gender=male
3.https://www.ceicdata.com/en/zambia/health-statistics/zm-intentional-homicides-male-per-100000-male
5.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.MA.P5
6.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.FE.P5
7. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6874-7-11