BY BONNY MUKOMBOZI MUSANZE: Police has organised a five-day seminar to concentrate on psycho-social support of child-sexual victims and gender based violence. In an effort to address sexual and domestic violence and abuse of children’s rights, the police will conduct seminars in all provinces to train its station officers on how to handle those crimes The in-charge of Community Police Supt. Damas Gatare, said that ‘child abuse appears where there are vulnerable children like the orphans, step-children; the community is therefore responsible for the safety and protection of the children not just biological parents.’ He added that the seminars will help police review the rights of the children, explore ways of handling abused children especially the psychological aspect of the victim and take new resolutions to curb the persistent child abuse in the country. It was reported that 360 cases of gender based violence were directed towards the girl-child from June 2006 to May 2007 in the province. The Mayor of Musanze Celestin Karabayinga observed that the the extent of the child abuse and the factors associated with it are overwhelming. Rwanda National Police and Unicef are jointly sponsoring the programme, in which 250 police officers are expected to participate.
