Violet Zulu, a Zambian house cleaner earning $40 a month, was imprisoned for seven years after being denied a legal abortion and terminating her own pregnancy. Her case highlights severe barriers to reproductive healthcare in Zambia, where restrictive laws and societal stigma force women into dangerous, illegal procedures. Zulu, who left school in the eighth grade, represented herself in court and pleaded guilty to procuring her abortion, unaware of legal exceptions allowing doctors to consider risks to existing children.

She delivered the fetus in a toilet, placed it in a sack, and dropped it in a stream, later confiding in a friend who reported her to police. Activists with the Center for Reproductive Rights secured her release after an appeal, calling the system a failure that prioritizes punishment over women's health and rights. Her story underscores the urgent need for policy reform in a nation where religious conservatism and lack of information perpetuate unsafe abortions, disproportionately impacting the poorest women.

Zulu now struggles to rebuild her life while providing for her two young sons.