The Speaker of Parliament, Rose Mukantabana, has called upon stakeholders involved in fighting Gender Based Violence (GBV) to work closely with lawmakers to ensure the rooting out of the vice. She was speaking at Prime Holdings, Kimihurura where she officially launched the ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence’, that commenced worldwide yesterday. “We have to take advantage of the female-dominated parliament to push for the amendment of laws that promote any sort of gender inequalities and enact more that will see women out of the vicious cycle of poverty which in most cases makes them subject to GBV,” said Speaker Mukantabana. Mukantabana was last September elected Speaker of Parliament making her the fist woman in the region to head a national legislative body. Rwandan women made history after scooping majority seats in Parliament over men as 45 out of the 80 seats went to them. The Speaker said that after the establishment of the standing committee on Gender Equality, it should work closely with the newly created National Gender Cluster to bear more fruits. The 16-day campaign will embark on a countrywide awareness raising campaign through debates and workshops aimed mainly at sensitising women to know about the Gender Based Violence Act and various legislations on land. “Extensive research with elaborate figures should be conducted to come up with the major causes of this violence and the reason as to why women have persistently lagged behind,” said Mukantabana, who has a history in gender activism even during her time at Haguruka, a local organisation that advocates for the rights of women and children. She assured participants that Parliament will do its best to enact laws that will make women economically empowered and self reliant. Solina Nyirahabimana, the Minister in the Office of the President, said that activists should use this campaign as a platform to assess and evaluate what has been achieved in fighting GBV, while also charting a way forward. “We have hope in this country because of the existing political will to promote gender equality and this is being championed by President Paul Kagame,” she said in her remarks. According to a communiqué released by the Gender cluster, this campaign will also embark on demonstrating the relationship between GBV and the violation of fundamental human rights, exposing the social, health and legal implications of the vice. The 16 days of activism have been recognised in Rwanda since 1981 and their span covers important days like the International AIDS day which is held annually on December 1. The campaign this year will be held under the theme: “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.” Ends
