Members drawn from 57 civil society organisations under their umbrella representative, Pro-Femme/Twese Hamwe, yesterday met in Kigali to discuss and familiarise with the new law governing persons and family.

The Chairperson of Pro-Femme/Twese Hamwe, Jeanne d’Arc Kanakuze, told journalists that the meeting was aimed at briefing their stakeholders on the law ahead of its dissemination to the public.

"The objective of the dialogue is to improve the civil society organisations’ understanding of the new law so that they can increase their participation in its enforcement monitoring,” she said.

Kanakuze credited the smooth government partnership for the strides made in achieving milestones in the fight for gender equality.

"We are all working together; some are sensitising, others training, others writing books but as civil society, our partnership with the government has opened doors towards achieving gender equality. We are consulted and where we see loopholes, we make suggestions where laws are amended to move with the times,” she said. 

The issue of gender-based violence toward men took centre stage with many calling on the victims to speak out.

"We are well aware that it exists. Every Rwandan should have an opportunity to enjoy their life but what makes us concentrate more on women is that they are the ones that have faced this violence historically. Men should also speak out because silence worsens problems and the law protects both genders,” she said.

The Secretary General of the Association of Kigali Women in Sports, Godlive Mujawabega, said violence against men was becoming serious because some women have misinterpreted the meaning of equality.

"There are homes where the true meaning of gender equality if misunderstood. There are roles each gender plays in a home and equality does change them.Unfortunately, that’s how men have come to be on the other end of gender based violence. Culturally, most men refuse to publicly talk about being abused, so it’s challenging to address,” she said.

Theophile Ngabonziza, the chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, said that though cultural constraints are still hard to bypass, there was reason to celebrate the achievements.

"Obviously, because of cultural influences, the journey is still a long one because some men still believe that the laws and sensitisation programmes preaching equal partnerships are depriving them of their manhood. But it has also helped some men to change their attitude and look at this with a positive outlook,” he said.

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