English
Kinyarwanda
As part of the ongoing awarenesscampaigns against crime, Rwanda National Police has urged residents of Kayonza District to work closely with security organs to put to an end issues related to domestic and gender based violence.
The call was made by the District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) of Kayonza, Inspector of Police (IP) Marie Gorette Ingabire alongside local leaders during a meet held late last week and drew over 2000 residents.
While addressing residents, IP Ingabire pointed out that, “domestic or gender based violence may be physical, emotional, sexual or mental abuse which takes place in families and communities."
"This kind of violence affects the victim regardless of their social class, age or lifestyle,” IP Ingabire said.
The bitter reality, she observed, whenever a mother is abused in whichever way, the children are also affected in one way or another.
“In a family that is marred with domestic violence, children are neglected, they don’t feel loved and the end results is that they grow up traumatized and there's a likelihood of being affected in life,” she noted.
GBV, she explained, is faced by both women and men, although the former are the most affected.
The executive secretary of Nyamirama Sector, where the campaign was conducted, Athanase Mukunzi also urged residents to always report to police cases of domestic violence and any other form of violence.
Fighting GBV falls under the Rwanda National Police (RNP) crime prevention and reduction strategy.
At the national level, RNP established the Anti-GBV and Child Protection Unit with an aim of embarking on sensitization campaigns, empowering the vulnerable and address cases related to GBV and child abuse.
One of the initiatives to respond to GBV and child abuse was establishment of Isange One stop Centre, it started in July 2009 at Kacyiru Police Hospital, as a pilot project to provide free integrated medical, psycho-social and legal support to GBV victims.
It has since been scaled up to 23 district hospitals across the country and plans to have the services in all district Hospitals are underway.
