The Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Dr. Jeanne d’ Arc Mujawamariya yesterday emphasized the need to break the silence surrounding Gender Based Violence (GBV) if the vice is to be wiped out completely.

Mujawamariya made this call ahead of a global campaign dubbed "16 days of activism” as regards violence against women, an effort that seeks to increase the awareness on the issue.

"While efforts are being made to prevent the occurrence of GBV, it is imperative that every Rwandan especially women understand that addressing the root cause of the problem starts with breaking the silence.

"As we join other countries in this 16 – day campaign, we should also find ways of dealing with other cross-cutting causes like poverty in a bid to ensure that everyone lives in a nation where people’s rights are respected,” she said.

Chief Superintendent Tony Kulamba, said that the Isange GBV One - Stop centre was established this year to address such cases in a more effective way adding that police is determined to provide services that aim at curbing this vice.

"Police statistics show that there are very high cases of violence against women and children compared to cases of men. Most women are raped while others are killed by either their partner or his relatives.

"A country can not develop when rights of a particular group of people are not realized. For this matter the police has undertaken various steps such as deploying officials at sector level to handle such cases,” Kulamba said.

Statistics show that this year women and girls have reported 220 rape cases, 15 women have also been killed by their partners while 17 murdered by relatives.

Four men were murdered by their wives. Kulamba attributes the male figures to the fact that most women may react to the continuous chain of violence from their spouses by killing their partners.

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