By George Bukenya
Domestic Based Violence (GBV) is one of the problems that severely affect women and girls in Uganda that need collective efforts to avert it.
A recent survey carried out by Afro barometer indicates that GBV ranks as the most important issue related to women’s rights that citizens believe government and society must address and according to the findings, more than four in 10 women 42% and men 41% say its very serious problem.
The problem have led to loss of lives, breaking of families, causing permanent disability and forcing the girl child out of school thus affecting her future life.
In an effort to avert the vice through increased advocacy and awareness among the masses, Uganda Media Woman Association (UMWA) and authored and launched a booklet that will guide journalists on reporting sensitive on Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women and girl child in the country
The booklet entitle ‘A Survivors Centered Approach ‘ clearly spells out The Dos and Don’ts for the report preparing, sourcing, writing/editing, publishing and post- publishing a GBV story on women and girl child.
The Executive Director of UMWA Margaret B.Sentamu at the launch of the booklet at Mama Fm Radio Station which shares offices with the mother organization said that the victim/ survivor feels traumatized scared and betrayed and thus wouldn’t trust anyone.
Basing on such situation, the survivor needs to be handled delicately to avoid further injuring her and because her voice or views are key to the story, however the reporter shouldn’t force her to talk about the incident.
Richard Kityo a Senior Gender Officer of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development also acknowledge that GBV against women and girls is still a huge problem in Uganda basing on Uganda Bureau of Statistics and other research conducted by other institutions.
He said that Violence is very costly on the victim/ survivor, government and the community at large because it leads to death, permanent disability, thus reducing productivity of such a person as a human resource.
” Although government have Enacted laws and put policies geared towards eradicating GBV but the statistics show that this crime is still high in Uganda. Therefore, we need all of us to put in efforts in terms of advocacy, sensitization and responsible reporting is we are to eliminate the problem.” Kityo said.
He hailed the UMWA leadership for coming up with this booklet as a guiding tool for journalists reporting on GBV something he said will positively impact on the reporting system thus helping the reporter to embrace emphasis and avoid biasness.
According to the 2023 Uganda Police Annual Crime Report, a total of 15,184 persons were Domestic Violence survivors, of those, 10,792 were female. Of 249 persons who were killed as a result of aggravated domestic violence, 113 were female. The report also indicated that sexual abuse and denial of property rights to women were high.
Another earlier Survey on Violence in Uganda conducted by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) also found that Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), which is often a precursor to femicide stood at 45%.
The statistics depict the persistent social norms, community apathy and low prosecution rates that continue to contribute to the prevalence of such crimes as they are recorded as Gender-Based Violence which is underrated and under-prosecuted as a seemingly lesser crime.