BUBANZA October 17th (ABP) – The inhabitants of the Bubanza province (north-west of Burundi) are called upon to combine efforts for the prevention and the fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). This was said on Tuesday, October 11 in the awareness-raising workshop for community health workers, local elected officials and community leaders, on the prevention and fight against SGBV, which was organized by the ministry responsible for public health.
Various presentations have shown that in Bubanza province, from January to September 2022, 1063 victims of SGBV, including 902 women, were received at the provincial directorate for family and social development (DPDFS). The commune that takes the lead in those cases is the Rugazi commune while the last is that of Mpanda. Some of the causes mentioned are drunkenness, the consumption of narcotics, poverty, the abuse of the power that the perpetrator has over the victim and impunity. As consequences, the speakers of the day spoke of various diseases, unwanted pregnancies, trauma, stigma, abortion, divorce cases.
One of the community health workers from Nyamabere village, in Mpanda commune, Mrs. Marie Goreth Ndayisenga, contacted on the site, deplores that men do not dare denounce or report GBV of which they are victims. She also deplores the fact that certain administrative officials encourage the families of the victims and the perpetrators of that violence, to settle the cases out of court while this is strictly prohibited.
The representative of the Ministry of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS asked for everyone’s involvement in the eradication of this scourge.