Zambia saw a 22.1 percent decline in gender-based violence cases in 2021 compared to the previous year, the police said.

The Victim Support Unit of Zambia Police said the southern African nation recorded 20,540 gender-based violence cases in 2021, a reduction of 5,830 cases from 2020.

Of the cases in 2021, 17,568 were criminal, while 2,972 were non-criminal reports.

The figures also showed that a total of 5,301 children, or 25.8 percent of the victims of gender-based violence, were abused last year, among which 4,115 were girls and 1,186 boys.

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More than a third of all women and girls in Zambia have experienced physical violence in their lives and 17 percent of women have experienced sexual violence.

The country faces some of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world.