Violence against women has for long been hidden in a culture of silence. The 16 Days of Activism campaign exists to break the silence and ensure that women’s voices are heard.

Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to acts that hurt, threaten, violate, force, or restrict someone, and are based on a gendered power structure.

But why are some people ‘abusers’ and others not? Are some people born violent or are they shaped by experience?

Speaking to the New Times, Grace Mbabazi, an anti-Gender-Based Violence (GBV) activist, said that a person starts living the moment he or she is conceived in the mother’s womb.

Mbabazi said that when a child is in the womb and for example, the mother is hungry, it is also hungry. When the mother is cold, the baby is also cold. The child is affected in any way and this may also contribute to ‘genetic violence.’

She added that if helped at a young age, this child who is or was born in violence can be helped in a safe environment, with a lot of love, care, and attention. Teachers should also be trained so that they can be able to help children since they spend more time with them, Mbabazi believes.

"Parents should closely watch and keep an eye on their children, that’s how they can recognise the changes in the child’s behaviour,” adding that a child starts developing a personality from 0 to 3 years.

She explained that when a person is born violent or faces violence, they have their way of expressing their feelings which might be violent.

"I believe everyone has that side in them. It requires a good reason and a bad day to be violent,” said Annick Uwase, a GBV activist

Uwase said that violence can be learned at a young age if one gets exposed to it. However, she also believes that by giving them space in a community that is less accustomed to violence, people who are born violent can be "healed.”

She added that there should be enforcement on penalties for violent crimes.

Uzziel Manirareba, a Clinical Psychologist, defined violence as a harmful behaviour that can be observed, one can get it genetically or from the environment, where they grow up from their parent's treatment.

Manirareba gave an example that a child learns from observing; if they are born into a violent family, they can unconsciously take the behaviour of the dominant character.

He added that this causes people to normalise violence as the way of doing things since they don't know any other way.

For example, a man who thinks the best way to correct his wife is beating her, when he is sitting with fellow men and that is the conversation, it becomes the normal way of doing things.

According to Manirareba, genetic factors can't be considered as the fundamental factors of violence because there are other reasons. Among them, observations, cultural and societal norms can also engine violence.

He recommends that society should be understanding and not judgemental, adding that they should rather find strategies to solve problems rather than being violent.

The 2019-2020 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey showed that the likelihood of initiating violence is higher among women and men who themselves have experienced spousal violence.

The report also indicates that 4 per cent of women who have ever experienced spousal physical violence and 6 per cent who have experienced spousal physical violence in the past 12 months (at the time the report was released) have initiated violence against their husband, compared with less than 1 per cent of women who have never experienced spousal physical violence.

It adds that 41 per cent of men who have experienced spousal physical violence and 12 per cent of men who have never experienced such violence have initiated violence against their wives.