By Ritah Ainembabazi
As Uganda prepares to commemorate the International Day of Family, the minister of State for gender and cultural affairs Peace Mutuuzo has expressed concern over the alarming cases of child abuse and gender-based violence in the country.
In just four months, (January-April) 2020, the cases of violence against children were 1,967 compared to 3,037 in 2019 according to the child helpline report of May 2020. This is almost 60% of last year’s cases.
Gender-based violence figures reported were 3,280 within a period of less than one month, between 30th March and April 2020 according to the Uganda police report of 2020.
Addressing a press conference at the media center ahead of the international day of the family which is commemorated on the 15th of May every year, minister Mutuuzo said this situation is unacceptable.
She said some of the cases were due to the inability to access income to support the family, not being used to staying together, poor communication, and in other cases due to patriarchal tendencies among others.
Mutuuzo is now calling upon all duty bearers in the GBV prevention and response pathway to ensure that the perpetrators of these vices are dealt with decisively and in a timely manner in accordance with the law.
Meanwhile, the ministry of gender has developed parenting guidelines to offer guidance on the roles and responsibilities of all members.
“Some of these guidelines that could be of high value during this lockdown are resolving conflicts constructively and promptly by talking about them while addressing the issue not the person” the minister reveals
The theme for this year is ” A harmonious family: A Key to Sustainable peace and Development”
