Masindi is reportedly experiencing swelling Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases that have left families torn apart, reveal the district authorities.
Ms Annet Karamagi, the District Probation and Welfare Officer, says her office has registered more than double the number of cases in this quarter compared to the past one.
She attributes GBV to husbands’ inability to provide for their families and prolonged home stay by both children and husbands, creating a big space for misunderstandings in families.
Such a situation, according to Ms Karamagi, has resulted in depression and psychological torture among other negative effects to spouses and their children.
She says some parents are stressed up after failing to raise tuition fees for their children back to school after their incomes were affected by the effects of Covid-19 including lockdown, low income and slow businesses among others.
As a remedy, Ms Karamagi advises the depressed to seek medical attention from various health facilities in the district and also proper parenting for a healthy life.
Ms Clare Busiinge Wamara, the Masindi District Labour Officer who doubles as the District Focal Person for Sexual and Gender Based Violence, is concerned that GBV has become a common vice in the district.
To stem it, Ms Wamara pledges that her office will intensify massive sensitisation campaigns to raise people’s awareness against GBV.
She notes that some people are either perpetrators or victims of the vice unawares.
Following the report, Ms Agnes Okidi, the officer in Charge of the Family and Child Protection Unit at Masindi police station, promises to strengthen the coordination between stakeholders as a way of fighting the vice in the district.
The figures
20 GBV cases reported to Masindi district probation and welfare office this quarter.
Less than 10 GBV cases reported to Masindi district probation and welfare office the previous quarter.
