Abused children and other victims of domestic violence will soon have another resource for medical and mental health care, thanks to the support of a retired Austrian pediatrician.

The Rwf50 million Imirasire Youth Clinic is based in Gasabo District in Kigali and can host 200 patients a day.

The clinic, which will open in June, will provide voluntary counseling and testing for diseases, including HIV/AIDS and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and hepatitis A, B and C.

The clinic will also provide DNA testing.

Imirasire Youth Clinic is administered by Centre Marembo, which supports vulnerable young girls, homeless youth, and other victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

The centre currently houses 80 girls who have been abused and 11 children conceived as the result of rape.

Nicolette Nsabimana, executive director of Centre Marembo, said that the facility will provide life-saving medical care and hope to abused children. Medics at the clinic will be trained to provide care to people who have been abused.

"Testing and adequate treatment can be too expensive or the girls feel too ashamed to consult public hospitals and health centres,” she said. "A new clinic will fill the gap.”

She noted that street children often do not realise that they are infected.

Nsabimana expects that the clinic will improve the health of the target population and help prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of diseases.

Call for support

Centre Marembo has also launched a fundraising campaign, One Hundred For One Girl, which aims to construct an integrated centre for abused children and street children, especially girls. The centre will include a vocational training school, early child development centre, and dormitories.

"Everyone should have the heart to support,” Nsabimana said. "Children who wander on the streets are ours that we, the community, have abandoned and we need to take responsibility.”

In 2016, at least 1320 child defilement cases were registered, down from 1433 in 2014, according to Police records.

At least 25 children were abandoned in 2016, up from 21 in 2014.

Isange One Stop Centre, started in 2009 in Kacyiru as a pilot project, offers a multi-sectoral approach to provide free medical, legal and psycho-socio services to the victims of GBV and child abuse that would otherwise face challenges to access such services due to their varied vulnerability.

There are now more than 20 Isange centres across the country.

Nsabimana said that the Centre Marembo had taken a step to construct a clinic to motivate the rest of the community and show that abused children can still enjoy their rights as other children.

Nsabimana added that families living near the clinic will have their children treated at the centre.

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