KAYONZA- A local NGO known as Voice of Community Organisation (VCO), has criticised men for orchestrating Gender Based Violence (GBV) in rural areas.

Innocent Musore, the leader of VCO, said as some of the perpetrators of gender based violence, men should be actively involved in awareness campaigns in order to stem the vice. 

"The issue of gender based violence in rural areas is predominantly instigated by men. We have hence decided to sensitise them to end such trends,” Musore said.

He was addressing hundreds of residents in Mwiri sector, Kayonza District who had gathered for a sensitisation workshop on Wednesday.

The officials say solutions to end GBV are normally initiated through those affected. During the meeting, several victims gave accounts of cases of violence which they had been subjected to.

The sector leader, Samuel Kwizera, said VCO sensitisation campaigns were timely to supplement their efforts to end domestic and sexual violence in the area.

Records show that over 45 affected families have since been assisted to end the vice. The families formed an association known as Nawe wakira (literary translated as; you can also recover) through which they sensitise perpetrators of such crimes to reform.

Local leaders said that fighting poverty is part of the efforts to be used in reversing the GBV trends. Mwiri sector is one of the remotest sectors in Kayonza, with high cases of domestic violence, according to the district officials.

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