She was denied a legal abortion and sent to prison over an illegal one. Now she tells her story

LUSAKA, Zambia — She says she was disappointed at every step. By a partner who abandoned her when she was pregnant. By a health service which refused her a legal abortion. And by a justice system that sent her to a maximum security prison for illegally terminating her pregnancy on her own.

Violet Zulu, a maid in Zambia earning $40 a month, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2024 after appearing in court without fully understanding the consequences of her actions. She did not see her two children or any other family members for almost two years.

After international rights groups learned of her case and helped her appeal, Zulu was released last month. Activists say she represents many women in Africa who make desperate decisions in the face of barriers to accessing legal abortion services.

Her story has generated little sympathy in her southern African country, where part of society views abortion harshly. Her own mother said she agreed with her daughter’s prison sentence, but said it should have been shorter.

Zulu spoke with The Associated Press as she pieces together her life at age 26.

She said she first tried to access legal abortion services at a public clinic, which should have given her advice or services but turned her away. She then tried a private pharmacy, which charged 800 Zambian kwacha ($43) for abortion drugs, a month’s salary for her.

She was already struggling to feed her two young sons and sometimes had to beg for food from relatives.

She said her decision to drink an herbal concoction she had prepared herself, known to terminate pregnancies, was made out of desperation. She couldn’t stand it if her boys had even less food if she had another child.

“I never wanted to abort my pregnancy, but it was circumstances at home that forced me to do it,” Zulu said during the interview in the two-room rented house without running water that she shares with her children and parents.

“I was scared (when I took the concoction), but I didn’t really care what would happen to me,” she added.

In her court testimony, she explained what happened next: She gave birth in the toilet, placed him in a bag and threw him into a nearby stream. She said she confided in a friend, but word spread and neighbors reported her to the police.

Zulu, who left school in eighth grade, was never given free legal advice despite having the right to ask for it. She represented herself in court and pleaded guilty to the crime of causing her own abortion. She said she didn’t understand the legality of abortion and thought she would receive a warning.

“It’s a system that failed Violet,” said Rosemary Kirui, Africa legal counsel for the abortion rights group Center for Reproductive Rights, which campaigned for Zulu’s release and helped her appeal. “It’s not that she didn’t try. It’s that she couldn’t afford these services, but she should be able to access them as a Zambian citizen.”

Zulus should have been eligible for free abortion under a provision that allows Zambian doctors to assess risks to the well-being of their existing children, said Sharon Williams, country director of the advocacy group Women and Law in Southern Africa.

But Zulu was unaware of this, largely because of the secrecy, stigma and shame surrounding abortion, which is not publicized by Zambia’s public health system.

Zambia’s health ministry did not respond to questions about his case.

Part of the problem, according to Williams, is that Zambia has legalized abortion while defining itself in its constitution as a strongly Christian country.

Abortions are still largely restricted in Africa, with few countries allowing them for reasons other than threats to the health of the mother or fetus. Even in countries where abortion is legal in certain circumstances, such as Zambia, religious beliefs, conservative values ​​rooted in local cultures or lack of information make access to legal procedures difficult, according to health and rights groups.

Williams said Zulu’s case should lead to a national debate over whether Zambian authorities should better educate communities about the legal right to abortion.

“I think now that we have this judgment, we’re ready to start the conversation,” she said.

Activists say desperate women are turning to unsafe abortions. Africa and Latin America have the highest proportions, with around 75% of all abortions in Africa deemed unsafe, according to the World Health Organization.

Health rights advocacy organization the Guttmacher Institute estimated in a 2019 report that more than 6 million unsafe abortions take place each year in sub-Saharan Africa. He noted that Zambia’s abortion law “tends to be a ‘law on paper’ rather than a law ensuring widespread access.”

In South Africa, which claims to have the most progressive laws on the continent, abortion has been legal for almost 30 years. It is authorized on request before 13 weeks of pregnancy and for several reasons before 21 weeks.

But studies estimate that only 7% of public health facilities offer abortion services.

In 2023, the case of a 14-year-old girl who was denied an abortion by South African health workers three times for invalid reasons gave rise to a confrontation with national reality. After an urgent trial, a judge ordered that the girl be allowed to have an abortion, which was performed on the last day allowed by law.

At the time, a representative from the social justice group that represented the girl said South Africa’s abortion laws were weakened by “the abuse of medical knowledge by medical professionals” who tried to prevent abortions.

In Zambia, Zulu said she still felt bad about what she had done, but now had to provide for her sons. She was looking for work again, she said.

___

Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

___

To learn more about Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support from the Gates Foundation for global health and development coverage in Africa. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropic organizations, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.