Last week, HDI met with 120 domestic workers to raise awareness on safe abortion to empower them with knowledge about their options in case of sexual assault. 

The group was part of the 2,000 women involved in domestic work in the City of Kigali that HDI plans to train.

Additionally, the group was also trained on different contraception methods and GBV reporting.

Addressing the participants, the Director of the Centre for Health and Rights, Christopher Sengoga, said that a similar campaign was launched in 2017 with a group of female sex workers after identifying their vulnerabilities to gender-based violence, especially sexual violence.

"We conducted a three-year campaign to empower domestic workers with the tools to claim their rights. This campaign emphasizes their right to sexual and reproductive health, access to justice, access to medical services, and the provisions in the ministerial order on safe abortion for those who may face sexual abuse,” he said.

He added that the 2017 campaign informed the decision to classify domestic workers as a highly vulnerable group in terms of sexual violence and various kinds of abuse in general.

Lack of information

Sengoga pointed out that most domestic workers face challenges in accessing accurate information on their sexual and reproductive health and rights and as a result, they are unable to seek help when they face abuse.

According to a study conducted by HDI on the causes, practices, and consequences of terminating pregnancies in Rwanda, lack of information and vulnerability are two of the reasons for women who end up in prison over abortion face.

"Such workshops also provide them with information on what to do in case they experience or witness gender-based violence and where to report. Besides the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), they can also report at their nearest hospital. We also let them know that HDI is here to help as well,” he said.

The implementation of the Ministerial Order on Abortion continues to face challenges due to moral and religious biases among healthcare providers.

Other challenges include difficulties in protecting the privacy of women seeking safe abortion services and the stigma towards them since they are all received in maternal wards.

Women and girls seeking safe abortion services also continue to face challenges around geographical accessibility, where many have to travel long distances to gain access since safe abortions are only provided at hospitals or polyclinics.

Beneficiaries speak out

The domestic workers, who were trained, commended the initiative and called on HDI to extend the campaign to more people across Rwanda.

Valentine Tuyishime, one of the participants, expressed her gratitude toward HDI for thinking about them. She added that they had learned a lot through the training, including where to report cases of gender-based violence.

Another participant, Agnes Nyiramana, welcomed the campaign, saying it was timely and will fix most of the challenges that they often face.

"Many women have been victims of sexual abuse and they continue to struggle raising children born as a result of this violence. We did not know who to turn to, to seek justice and I am leaving this place today feeling better than I did when I came,” she said.

The campaign is expected to be extended country-wide.