Men join fight against Gender-Based Violence

Like-minded men last week gathered in a one-day workshop to discuss how best their fellow men could jump on board and join their sisters in the fight against gender-based violence(GBV). “The Government of Rwanda has been addressing gender-based violence (GBV) by punishing perpetrators through the judicial system. However, it has a limit because we are still experiencing a growing number of cases of violence despite the punitive measures in place,” Fidel Rutayisire, founder and Chairman of Rwanda Men’s Resource Centre (RWAMREC), addressed the participants. At the workshop organised by RWAMREC, a men’s network ‘MenEngage’ was formed for the purpose of improving results in the battle against GBV. According to Rutayisire, the MenEngage network will deal with four domains in its attempt to stop the violence. These are GBV, Reproductive Health, HIV/Aids and Human Rights. MenEngage network in Rwanda joins other MenEngage networks in the world whose prime aim is to fight GBV. Other countries in the MenEngage network include Kenya that launched a chapter last September and Ethiopia also set to launch its chapter next week. In september, the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) released a report on its findings of a survey on sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) conducted by the department of Applied Statistics at the National University of Rwanda. The survey was carried out in order to figure out the extent of the violence in society and to come up with a proper report that can be used by stakeholders in the fight against SGBV. Economic dependency, according to the researchers, was the main reason behind SDBV. Also according to the findings, in Rwanda, SDBV is mostly men targeting women. Men can therefore play a big role in the elimination of SDBV in Rwandan society. The survey was conducted in the districts of Rutsibo, Kayonza, Ngororero and Kigali City in January this year, and the first draft was out in May. Ends