Bathing defilement victims undermines evidence–prosecutor

Some defilement cases are difficult to win because most people take long to report or destroy evidence ignorantly, a prosecutor at the National Public Prosecution Authority, has said. Agnes Muhongerwa, was speaking at a meeting organised by the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO), held to review indicators of Gender Based Violence.“90 per cent of the GBV cases reported are handled with efficiency and justice is served; but we want to sensitise the people about the importance of evidence, for example, when a child is defiled, she should be rushed to the nearest police station instead of first bathing and cleaning her,” Agnes Muhongerwa said in an interview.She added that although in some instances men are victims of GBV, women are by far, the most affected.GMO announced that it had initiated plans to monitor the progress made in the nation’s fight against gender based violence to supplement existing efforts.By following specific indicators to understand the scope and nature of GBV, GMO will acquire special reports from prosecution offices dispersed all over the country to understand the communities’ awareness of government efforts against the vice.“To reach our goals, we must put in place measures that provide us with accurate information about the scope of GBV in a particular community. Our collaboration with prosecution will help us get data about the actions taken when a case is reported, how many people report after they have been assaulted and the nature of violence inflicted,” Eugenie Kabageni, the Deputy Chief of GMO said yesterday during the meeting.