Give special attention to Genocide rape victims and their children

Editor,Refer to the story “Mutabazi’s dilemma and post-Genocide collaboration” (The New Times, December 31). I understand the ordeal the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi are living in, especially rape victims.I thank The New Times for coming up with this story and I hope the Government of Rwanda is taking note of the series of stories about the children born out of rape, and their mothers.We should help the survivors to fight stigma by taking their situation as personal, special cases.Look at this scenario; for example: a single mother, who was raped and survived. When she tried to go settle in her parents’ house, the rapist’s family threatened to kill her and her child. Then she chooses to settle in a nearby centre in a house of another Genocide perpetrator who was sentenced in absentia. Up to now, the family says they are not getting any support, apart from some assistance from the SURF Rwanda, with little means!I think many survivors are still re-living those horrible moments whenever they fail to get helped. The Government should take action by establishing a formal framework to help specific categories of survivors, instead of assuming that they get support through VUP Ubudehe. They need special assistance.It should be noted that Ubudehe supports the poor and the needy, but does not care about the mental wounds of the beneficiaries. Yet victims of rape and their children need not only the physical support but also serious counseling.I would note also that some of these children have been living an eternal conflict with their mothers, where the mothers tend to reject them by reminding them that they are a result of unwanted pregnancies, and relate them with the ‘monsters’ who raped them.Some of these children also blame their mothers to have implicated their fathers who ended up in jail. Everything about these cases is complicated, the reason I reiterate that these families need special attention from the Government.These people need a third party, to tell each of them that neither of them is responsible of their fate. The third party can bring them to positive thinking, because after all, 19-year-olds can study, work hard and go on to become successful in life.Their mothers too can still lead a positive life.But support should not come from Government only. Local communities should also extend support to such people in their neighborhoods as well. Let also create a framework of support which will encourage other rape victims to open up, because, psychologists found that, people die slowly when they do not talk about such horrible experiences.Jean-Pierre Rwogera, Kigali

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Give special attention to Genocide rape victims and their children