MURAMVYA December 13th (ABP) – Stakeholders in the field of gender-based violence (GBV) at the level of Muramvya province (center-west), provided on Thursday, December 9, in a coordination meeting, data showing that the cases of violations are decreasing, a check by ABP revealed.
Figures were announced during a workshop on the holistic care of GBV and discussions on the challenges, collected since last September by the various actors of the penal chain and social care organizations such as the High Court (TGI), the court, the judicial police, the administration, the district hospital and the provincial directorate of family and social development as well as the AFJB organizations (association of women lawyers of Burundi) and CAFOB (Collective of associations and non-governmental organizations of Burundi), as respectively indicated by the actors. The Muramvya judicial police identified 37 cases of violations, including 13 cases relating to rape, four relating to economic violence, two cases of psychological violence and three cases of physical violence.
The TGI recorded 43 cases on its own, including eight cases of rape and 35 cases of economic violence while 47 cases obtained legal assistance from the AFJB.
Among the 47 cases cited above, 36 were postponed to later dates while 11 others await trial in the coming days, as indicated by the lawyer and host representative of the AFJB in Muramvya, Thierry Gahungu. The results of this reduction were achieved thanks to the contribution of CAFOB and the AFJB who paid the travel expenses of the authorities to arrive on the ground in order to inquire about the real situation of the facts in view of good collaboration and synergy of actors via the coordination framework put in place. These travel expenses are paid to provide health care for victims of sexual and physical violence as well as for the travel of witnesses during public hearings, according to representatives of the AFJB and CAFOB.
Challenges related to the manipulation and intimidation of victims to change their complaints, and village officials who are not aware of the law against GBV were reported by participants in that meeting. At the end of the workshop, the participants recommended sensitizing village leaders on the law that punishes gender-based violence to involve them more in denouncing the offenses in question.