Women vow to fight GBV in rural areas

NORTHERN PROVINCE MUSANZE — The annual congress of the members of the National Council for Women (CNF) from the Northern Province ended last week with pledges of renewing a firm commitment to actively help rural women tackle the challenge of Gender Based Violence (GBV). Participants observed that women should live in peace and harmony with their partners in order to engage in development activities like agricultural transformation. In a joint resolution, participants also demanded that men in the rural areas should attend family planning sensitisation campaigns, because many of them tend to shun family planning methods. Odette Bamurange, the coordinator of CNF in the province, observed that gender based violence is still prevalent in rural families despite several government interventions. “Women are still being physically abused by their spouses while others are subjected to what amounts to donkey work, by their husbands,”she added. The two-day seminar which drew vice Mayors in charge of social affairs from five districts in the province, was called to discuss challenges hindering womens empowerment. Participants resolved to step up advocacy measures to help rural women access financial support to enable them achieve development activities. Ends