Kigali City has topped the Gender Based Violence (GBV) crime list with 510 cases registered in the first six months of the year.The report indicates that 1,572 cases were registered country wide by the end of June.

The Southern and Eastern Provinces are the second and third with 318 and 313 cases respectively, while the Western and Northern provinces registered the lowest cases, according to the report.

The districts of Gasabo, Nyarugenge and Kicukiro, all in Kigali City, also topped the districts’ GBV crime list with 225, 180 and 105 recorded cases in that order.

Defilement and assault in Nyarugenge were the top cases with 717 and 283 cases with the latter leading to 15 cases of death.

53 cases of murder in various categories were registered while 18 cases of children killed by their parents were also registered by the end of June, according to the report.
, said that despite cases of GBV still being high, the crime is now widely known.

"Women and children, who mostly fall prey to these crimes, are now aware of their rights through sensitization programmes and talk shows we have carried out in the last few years,” said Zaina Nyiramatama, the president of HAGURUKA, a local NGO that fights for children and women’s rights.

She further noted that the NGO has now widened its operations to all parts of the country and that the mindset of the victims has changed.

"They can now report if offended, which wasn’t the case before, which will also help concerned authorities to fight all sorts of GBV,” she noted, adding that most cases are related to domestic relations. 

Police Spokesperson, Supt. Eric Kayiranga also said that sensitization of public on children and women’s rights, and arresting suspects, have helped in curbing GBV crimes.

"The establishment of the GBV One Stop Centre at Kacyiru Police Hospital for legal support and psychological treatment, counseling and information sharing through community policing committees, has helped us to identify most culprits,” Kayiranga said.

He added that the introduction of toll free lines, 3512 and 112, for easy communication and rapid intervention has also helped victims to easily report such violations.

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