The 15-year-old victim of sexual violence and her baby. (Diane Mushimiyimana.) Anita Uwimana (not real name), from Gasabo District, was 14 and in Primary Six when she was defiled by their family neighbour who impregnated her. She dropped out of school. Uwimana now has a three-month old baby girl. She shares a single-room house with her mother and five siblings, living off casual labour. “After being defiled, I kept it as a secret so much I didn’t even let my mother know about it until the pregnancy was noticeable. Later, my mother and her friends decided to report the offender but by that time it was already too late and he had escaped. I gave birth to a healthy baby but I still wish the offender can be traced and brought to justice,” she told The New Times. Uwimana’s case represents the agony faced by children subjected to sexual violence. The 2015/16 report by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), tabled before a joint session of MPs and senators in November, shows that out of 2,818 reported cases of sexual abuse, 1,879 of them (67 per cent) were about defilement. At least 44, 5 per cent of the victims were between the age of 15 and 17, while 5 per cent of the same cases affected children between three and five years old.In separate interviews with The New Times, government, children rights and anti-GBV activists raised concerns over the vice They called on parents to put more efforts in monitoring their children, and to report on time cases of sexual violence. Christiane Umuhire, the director of gender-based violence at the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, said as part of the ongoing family campaign, sexual violence is a major issue they are dealing with. “The ministry is highly concerned with child abuse. But the issue of sexual violence requires regular sensitisation of all the population with focus on parents and caregivers. From our assessment, parents, among other stakeholders, are to blame for the upsurge in these cases,” she said. “Many parents today are not doing enough in terms of monitoring their children. We want them to prioritise their children’s welfare and never hide information on sexual abuse even if the offender may be a relative.” Efforts scaled up Umuhire said the ministry is strengthening the ‘Umugoroba w’ababyeyi’ (parents forum at the village level), by regularly sending teams to share information related to child rights so as to address the knowledge gap. While launching the family campaign, the ministry awarded best performing parent forums (one in each district) in solving family conflicts, gender violence issues, among others to inspire others to follow their example. Madeleine Nirere, the chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights, said their concern is to work with all stakeholders to take to court all offenders and support the victims to access free legal representation to deal with compensation since there were concerns of failure in this regard. Out of 100 cases tried in court, only four filed for damages, according to the NCHR report. “Children don’t know their right and how to protect them. We are now putting more efforts in awareness (reaching children in schools, holding holiday meetings, community work) to prevent new cases. Parents who fail to fulfill their responsibilities will be punished in line with the law,” said Nirere.She urged the public to report cases of child abuse they encounter such as taking minors to clubs, hotels and bars. For Uwimana’s case, the umbrella of Human Rights Organisations in Rwanda (CLADHO) is working to help her get justice. The organisation has also pledged to enroll her back in school when her baby is grown up. There are no definite figures of how many teenagers were impregnated countrywide over the years but, according to a study by CLADHO carried out in 10 districts, 818 teenage girls were impregnated before they reached the age of 18 within a period of just two years. Evariste Murwanashayaka, the head of anti-teenage pregnancy and child right violation at CLADHO, said that it is sad that many people in the community never want to report child abuse cases. “We have cases of parents who failed to report offenders, just putting the blame on the child victim for ‘provoking’ abuse. Some parents are bribed by the offenders of their children to silence them. Also, other people in the community tend to consider teenage pregnancy as a normal thing that they see the offenders as innocent. We have to come out together against this. Child abuse must not be condoned,” he said. Murwanashyaka said CLADHO had realised that some people fail to get Rwf25,000 in court fees to file a case but they are working with the National Children Council on a paper to be presented before Parliament seeking the scrapping of court fees for sexual violence crimes. CLADHO is also pushing for all the offenders to be tried at the crime scene for the communities to be aware of the gravity of such crime and come together against new cases. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
