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Warning: This story contains distressing details.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A protest march has been held in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, against a recent spate of reports of men raping children.<\/p>\n Over the last two months, Zambians have been shocked by several cases of child rape, some of which resulted in death.<\/p>\n Among the most horrific reports was that of a father allegedly raping his seven-year-old daughter while she was admitted to hospital for cancer treatment.<\/p>\n There have also been reports of a five-year-old allegedly being raped by a gang of four men, while another father was jailed for raping and infecting his six-year-old with genital warts, a sexually transmitted infection.<\/p>\n Zambia’s Justice Minister Princess Kasune-Zulu has called for the castration of child rapists as an extreme measure to deter perpetrators and protect children from abuse.<\/p>\n “How low can we go as a nation? How low can we go as a society? What is happening is sickening. It is beyond laws now – it is up to us as Zambians to interrogate why our morals have decayed,” she recently told parliament.<\/p>\n Following the reports, civil society organisations, musicians, and individuals held a protest march on Thursday, calling for the government to amend the law to introduce tougher punishments for child rapists.<\/p>\n In a petition handed to Vice-President Mutale Nalumango, they demanded the law be changed so that those accused of child rape are not granted bail.<\/p>\n In response, Nalumango said the issue concerns everyone and that Zambians must take a stand.<\/p>\n