NEW YORK - The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame on 22nd September attended the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2011 Annual Meeting which took place in New York, USA.

Mrs. Kagame took part in a small group discussion themed "Preventing Violence against Girls and Women in Urban Settings,” moderated by  Mary Ellsberg, Vice President, Research and Programs, International Centre for Research on Women.

Other speakers in this session included Regina Benjamin, Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Pat Mitchell, President and CEO, The Paley Centre for Media.

The objective of this particular session was to have participants examine the utility of technologies and media approaches, and discuss the development of policies and programs that can make cities safer, more positive environments for women and girls.

In her remarks, Mrs. Kagame spoke about Rwanda’s strides in combating gender-based violence, and the partnership between various stakeholders in the country to fight this endemic that affects women and girls.

"For the first time, the year 2009 saw the multi-sectoral alliance between the Rwanda National Police, local government, Ministry of Health, the UN Family and the Imbuto Foundation –  in the care and treatment of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence victims,” The First Lady said.

"This partnership resulted in the Isange One Stop Centre at a local police hospital. Isange, which loosely translates as "feel welcome", is a specialized free-of-charge referral centre where victims of violence receive a multitude of services that include: medical care, psychosocial support, police and legal support, including collection of legal evidence”.

Mrs. Kagame concluded by saying: "We must not focus only on violence against women and girls in urban settings, but also violence against women and girls that occurs in homes, in familiar space, more often perpetrated by people we trust. We need to be more attentive, and know that we cannot overcome this issue without bringing men on board”.

Dr. Benjamin stated that most attacks on women happen in women’s own homes, by people who are supposed to love them.

"One out of three women around the world will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. We need to engage our doctors about this issue,” Benjamin said.

On the issue of innovate strategies to address the issue of violence against women, Mitchell said that, new kind of mobile technology is being tested where women have been given mobile phones, which provide a siren to scare people away and a GPS system to guide the women to safe places.

"From New York to New Delhi, sex trafficking is a huge issue. It has been so difficult to rescue women in these situations. Getting at least one mobile phone into these communities, with texting and GPS capabilities, is hugely important—they have been able to literally guide women out of the brothels and out of captivity. 

Using a new kind of software, if a woman is being victimized in her home, she can push a button if something is happening to her and immediately report it to 911” she explained.

Opportunities for action included establishing centres for women who have been attacked where they can get health care, psychological help, and legal assistance, and to have these centres replicated across countries worldwide.

Other points of action included training law enforcement on how to deal with gender violence issues specifically, including peacekeeping forces and involving men in the solution to gender violence with training.
 
Most kinds of legislation today focus on domestic partner violence. Increasingly there is recognition on the need to focus on violence against women in public spaces. Sexual violence in public places keeps women from being able to be a part of the workforce, enjoy public spaces, and participate in communities.

Ends