Rwanda National Police

Gender-based violence (GBV) is defined as violence – sometimes as extreme prejudice - that is directed against a person on the basis of their sex.

These crimes range from assault, rape, manipulation and similar acts which breach the fundamental right to life, liberty, security, dignity, equality, non-discrimination and physical and mental integrity.

Rwanda has seen a significant drop of GBV cases over the years; however, the crime remains one of the most challenging hindrances to societal development.

Rwanda National Police (RNP) has strongly stood against this scourge and has consistently worked with other institutions such as the ministry of gender and family promotion, as well as the public through sensitization campaigns calling for the respect of people’s dignity.

More to that, Police has promoted community policing, through which the public voluntarily shares information with officers, which helps to prevent GBV, arrest culprits or identify of victims in need of help.

To that effect, government has put in place various strategies to further combat the crime, including the ambition to scale up of Isange One Stop Centre to all district hospitals across the country by 2017.

Isange started in July 2009 at Kacyiru Police Hospital (KPH) as a pilot project to provide free psycho-socio, medical and legal services to adult and child survivors of gender based violence and child abuse – and has so far received about 7, 000 cases since its establishment.

Many times, it has become obvious that people who commit GBV crimes do so ignorantly, without fully knowing the repercussions. This is in spite of the fact that Rwandan laws are well elaborate in spelling out heavy punishments to offenders.

It is therefore essential that the public comes to understand and appreciate that unless all of us treat each other equally, some people might be found on the wrong side of the law.

For example, any individual who is guilty of a GBV case that results into the death of its victim is likely to be prosecuted with life imprisonment under Penal Code article 140.

In the same line, GBV committed by use of medical or narcotic drugs, pictures and writings is punishable with six months to two years in prison under article 202.

One of the most common cases of GBV is rape. It usually manifests itself in different places, be it at home, work, neighborhood or society – and this is punishable under article 196 with imprisonment of seven to ten years.

When this is committed on a child below the age of eighteen, the penalty ranges between five and seven years.

Important as well, a person who sexually harasses anyone by way of orders or threats for the purposes of sexual pleasure is liable to a term of imprisonment of six months to two years under article 203.

Probably something that many people do not know, is that any person who encourages or manipulates another into prostitution is liable to one to three years in prison under article 206, while running a brothel attracts six months to two years in prison in article 206.

On the family level, the usually rare case of neglecting a child’s education or wellbeing on the basis of sex is punishable under article 228 with imprisonment of three to six months.

Couples are also warned against GBV, and, any person who harasses their spouse or refuses to assist in family responsibilities or denies them right to property is liable to a term of imprisonment of three months to six months under article 228.

Forced marriages are also condemned under article 275, which stipulates that forcing a person to marry, or not to marry, a partner of their choice is punishable with one month to five months in prison.

Human trafficking is not a very serious problem in Rwanda due to concerted efforts of the government’s initiative to ensure that the country is not a destination or a source of victims to this scourge.

Nevertheless, the penal code provides elaborate punishments for this crime.

Article 252 stipulates that any person dealing in human trafficking will be liable to a term of imprisonment of seven years to ten years.

Moreover, all the offences above come with hefty fines.

RNP has shown a strong will to prevent and fight GBV and has implemented the necessary operations trainings and campaigns against the scourge.

The government has also ratified domestic, international and regional conventions policy frameworks to serve as a foundation to better tackle the challenges of GBV.

The international and regional conventions include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979), and the Platform for Action adopted at the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995).