Majority of house girls have been raped by their male bosses and are harassed by local authorities, a report on gender based violence has indicated.

The 57-page report, titled ‘Gender Based Violence on House Girls in Rwanda’ was released yesterday by a local NGO, ActionAid International Rwanda, at Hotel Alpha Palace.

It highlights the abuses meted out to house girls, following a survey carried out in 10 districts in which hundreds of house girls, their bosses and local leaders were interviewed.

Sexual violence, majority of the maids say, is very common to them, according to the report’s findings.

Most of the house girls, who earn an average monthly salary of Frw3, 788, told the researchers that they have been raped by their male bosses and other men in the neighbourhoods.

"My male boss often comes back home from work very early and invites me to his bedroom for sex.

After sex he always warns me not to alert anyone if I do not want to be fired from my work,” one of the house girls in Gasabo District, Kigali City, is quoted as saying in the report.

According to the report, a male boss in Rwamagana District, Eastern Province, confessed that sometimes men are not sexually satisfied by their wives, and instead of going out for other ladies they opt for house girls.

It adds: ‘When house girls are raped by the bosses or other persons, they are promised that they will be provided with everything they need for cover-up.’

In other ugly abuse incidents, the report states that house girls are used in pornographic acts.

Rose Mukanabana, the Programme Development Manager at ActionAid-Rwanda, said violent acts perpetrated to any person are enough for her or him to suffer biological disorders.

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