Anti-GBV campaign pays off

The campaign against gender related crimes is paying off, the head of the Police anti-GBV and child protection unit has said.“We are seeing many people and victims coming to report such crimes following several sensitisation programmes carried out to end GBV in the country,” said Inspector of Police, Belline Mukamana.“This will help us a lot since it will help us identify the causes and the most hit areas,” she added.According to a police report, gender based violence (GBV) related crimes increased by over 4.6 per cent last year to 3, 585 up from the 3, 427 registered in the previous year.Gender officials have attributed the trend to increased awareness campaigns that saw more victims report such domestic crimes.According to the report, exclusively obtained by The New Times, Kigali city tops the list with 887 registered cases in 2011, though this decreased by 6.1 percent from the 945 cases recorded in 2010. The Eastern Province with 860, Southern and Western provinces with 734 and 592 cases follow in that order, while the Northern Province with 513 cases filed the least offences.Among the GBV crimes, defilement recorded 1,733 cases in 2011, up from 1,654 registered in the previous year.Assault and rape with 543 and 287, respectively follow in that order. In Kigali city, Gasabo District, which topped the list in 2010, has the highest number of GBV crimes in 2011 with 375 followed by Nyarugenge and Kicukiro districts.Rwanda is listed among the countries that are at the forefront in the campaign against GBV with a strategic plan, decentralised GBV desks and the only country with a hospital – Kacyiru Police hospital –that offers free medical services to GBV victims.Mukamana, however, accused parents for negligence, which leads their children to indulge in sexual-related crimes.

National

Anti-GBV campaign pays off