Wife battering still a challenge in Gicumbi

While many are thinking that men beating their wives is a thing of the past, it is not the same for the women in Gicumbi District.While interviewing women on the challenges that need urgent attention, most said wife beating was the priority. They also pointed out greed by husbands who don’t want to share property with them as another problem.Philomene Nawanganyimana, 51, a resident of Rugarama village stated that there are so many women that are still beaten by their husbands.“We have violent men who beat and ill treat their wives. Women fear reporting such cases because they think it shameful. It’s a big challenge here but we are trying to meet with the community to discuss these issues and encourage women to always report these cases,” she said.Nawanganyimana also noted that this has led to marital disharmony which in turn affects the whole family citing cases where parents having grudges deny children some of their essential necessities as both want the other to carry the burden.Another resident of Gicumbi, Vestine Uwizeyimana, 25, mentioned that they have a challenge of husbands disliking Family Planning thus leading to life in abject poverty.“Men don’t like hearing about or even using family planning methods so at times we women unwillingly end up giving birth to many children that we can’t afford to take care. We thus end up living impoverished lives,”Uwizeyimana said.She called upon leaders to utilise the community meetings held for parents to sensitise men about the importance of family planning so they can agree with their wives to produce a reasonable number of children they can ably take care of.She also pointed out the issue of husbands who sell family property such as cows or land without the consent of their wives, claiming that they are solely in charge of every family asset.However, it was not all doom and gloom, as the women of Gicumbi also admitted having been empowered unlike in the past.Amesita Mukandekezi, 50, said that women no longer look up to their husbands for clothes and other essential needs.“Most of us are farmers but we now own bank accouts. We have learnt to save money and take care of our own needs. We can confidently take up different leadership positions in the area and we know we have the ability to accomplish our dreams,” she said.The Minister of Health, Agnes Binagwaho urged the women to take part in the activities that will empower them to lead healthy lives.She urged them to set up kitchen gardens to feed their families well and also take part in the activities organised for the whole month in celebration of women and girls of Rwanda.

National

Wife battering still a challenge in Gicumbi