The Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa has asked Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to intensify the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) which has affected many girls, mainly in villages.
Tayebwa made the remarks while officiating a high level Uganda Parliamentary Women Association (UWOPA) dialogue meeting today, the 7th of December 2022 at Parliament.
During his presentation, Tayebwa linked the increase of GBV in villages to low levels of education, alcohol consumption, poverty and the primitive beliefs of a man is above a woman irrespective of the woman’s status.
“Gender Based Violence mainly happening upcountry, is due to low education levels, alcohol, poverty and primitive beliefs of a man is overhead the woman regardless of the woman being the family breadwinner,” he said.
Tayebwa asked the sector players to tackle the root cause of gender inequality in order to eliminate it.
The Deputy Speaker urged Members of Parliament to be the champions in the fight against GBV and advised them to use the available platforms to encourage the victims to speak up and report such cases to the relevant authorities.
“I commit on behalf of this institution of Parliament to ensuring that issues of gender based violence, material rights and sexual reproductive rights and services are incorporated in the 2023/2024 national budget,” Tayebwa stated.
He commended UWOPA and other stakeholders for the extra efforts put in fighting violence against girls and women, teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
Violence against women has been on the increase with new confiscated forms of cyber-bullying especially through social media. Over 644,955 teenage pregnancies were recorded during the Covid-19 lockdown.
