Leaders from Niboye sector in Kicukiro district on Friday met at Alpha Palace hotel to discuss with parliamentarians and opinion leaders the alarming problem of gender-based violence in their sector. During the discussion, leaders denounced family heads who beat their wives. They said no matter what, a man must respect his wife. A recent report released by police on gender based violence, indicates an increase of such cases, with women and children being the victims. The report indicates cases compiled between 2005 and September 2008 and in that period, 334 women have been murdered by their husbands, 1,246 physically assaulted, with a disturbing 1,843 gender-based violence cases filed by police. Children featured as the most endangered group with an alarming 8486 cases of child abuse, with physical and emotional damage caused as a result of domestic violence between their parents and cases directed towards them. According to Paskazia Mukarutakwa, the head of National Women Council in Niboye, every day the sector registers three cases of domestic violence, all having women and children as victims. The overriding gender based cases against women and children include; rape, defilement of children below the age of 18, corporal punishments and murder. Although the day was partly to celebrate recent achievement of 56 percent women representation in parliament, the issue Gender Based Violence overshadowed the moment. Niboye leaders urged Parliamentarians and other authorities in positions of responsibility, to swiftly find possible ways of addressing the problem. Coincidentally however, this plea came at a time when parliamentarians have spent some time in gruelling discussions on the same issue. In one of the recent discussions on Gender Based Violence, Parliament, acknowledged the increase in sexual harassment cases at work and other places, observing that because of the stigma and cultural misgivings surrounding the issue, many victims don’t report the cases hence suffering psychological and emotional breakdowns. On top of being sexually abused and physically assaulted, there are cases of husbands who have deliberately abandoned their homes, refusing to offer financial assistance meant to sustain their homes, in this case, authorities have resorted to forceful conditions of having the assistance brought to the respective police headquarters, this shows the extent men have gone in being irresponsible. The recently passed law on gender based violence is poised to play a big role in dealing with the problem, most especially among the population. Both the victims and the villains come to understand it fully and authorities reinforce it. Among the worrying causes of gender based violence and its ugly shortcomings, are the complicated processes involved in getting a divorce. Revising the law governing divorce, would save many from the violence because it would then be easy for a person to move out of a failing marriage. Some men Sunday Times talked to give flimsy excuses as to why they fight their wives. Some say women are becoming self-centred, arrogant and pompous. But infidelity, men say is the major cause of domestic violence. Ends
