🇿🇲 Republic of Zambia
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: DangerousWomen visiting: High Risk
Do not go to Zambia unprepared: the risks are real. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, with penalties up to life imprisonment, which places it 162nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Its best measures are only mid-range: there is some exposure to conflict, ranking 78th, and freedom is only partly protected, at 92nd. Violent crime is common, the roads are hazardous and women's safety is poor, with all three ranking between 122nd and 159th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Zambia: 5.9
Ranked 59th in the world for the highest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Just under six killings per 100,000 people a year is a fraction over the world average of 5.8, which is where the risky tier begins.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care. Right at the world average, on a WHO estimate close to Zambia's last count from 2015.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Zambia: 17.1
Ranked 58th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Seventeen deaths per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of fifteen, though well short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. Above the world average on the WHO's estimate.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Zambia: 1.33
Ranked 78th least conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
No conflict death is recorded in Zambia in the last five years. The last one the Uppsala conflict database has was in November 2001.
Is it safe to visit?
Safe. Nothing reaches a visitor, on any of its eight borders.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Zambia: 6.09
Ranked 89th least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Zambia the lowest is press at 1. Total 13 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
Regular elections and transfers of power, but opposition parties face onerous obstacles and restrictive laws narrow political and online speech. Press is the low rating. Daily life is open.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Zambia: Life
Ranked 19th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Sex between men carries fifteen years to life under colonial-era provisions, with occasional prosecutions. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe to be open. Presidents answer Western criticism by doubling down, and no visible community life is possible.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Zambia: 5.52
Ranked 22nd least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Only 35 percent of women feel safe out alone at night. Partner violence in the past year hits 28 percent, and nearly half of women think wife-beating can be justified.
Is it safe to visit?
Zambia is a high-risk destination for a woman travelling alone.