GASABO - Government needs to speed up the publication of a law that prevents and punishes violence against women and children in order to reduce cases of gender-based violence, women and children rights activists urged yesterday.

The long awaited law was approved by both chambers of parliament in July this year, but it can not be effective unless it is promulgated and published in the Official Gazette.

During a town hall meeting held at Telecom House and broadcast live on both Radio Rwanda and Rwanda Television, the activists said that the new law will provide more details on forms of domestic violence and impose strict penalties for both the culprits and accomplices of the abuse.

"Hopefully, the law will have been published before the end of the year,” said Marie Immaculée Ingabire, a member of Haguruka, an association that fights for women and children’s rights.

The panel tackling Gender Based Violence (GBV) was also joined by representatives of police and government, members of the National Council of Women, and officials from the United Nations Fund for the Development of Women (UNIFEM).

The meeting was organised as part of activities to observe "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” that kicked off last week.

According to the Executive Secretary of the National Council of Women, Christine Tuyisenge, there are many cases of violence against women and children that go unreported because some people just close their eyes and decide not to report it.

She expects the new law to provide details on how such people could be prosecuted.

"We are calling for the publication of this law because it will help us punish those who are violent,” she said.

A recent report covering GBV cases from 2005 to 2008 that was compiled by the Rwanda National Police, revealed alarming cases of attacks against women including rape, defilement, corporal punishment as well as murder by their spouses.

According to the report, during this period 259 wives were murdered by their husbands, over 2000 cases of rape were reported to police, and there were almost 10,000 cases of defilement of children below the age of 18.

Gender-based violence is a setback on people’s development, emphasised the country’s rights groups. They urged that both government institutions and independent organisations combine efforts to end the practice.

"It is necessary that we abolish GBV, if we have really entered the era of sustainable development,” Ingabire said.

She commended the fact that there is a political will in Rwanda to abolish gender-based violence and that non governmental organisations, government, police, the army, and the United Nations have joined forces towards eradicating the practice.

GBV desks have been established at both the Rwanda National Police (RNP) and the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) headquarters.

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