05 Feb 2018

Senior assistant commissioner of Police, Mr Christopher Mbulawa says in most cases, men are the perpetrators in offences related to gender-based violence, which happens to be the macro factor in fuelling the HIV pandemic.

Speaking at the Boteti Sub-district men sector workshop in Rakops recently, Mr Mbulawa, who is also Divisional Commander North - Central stated that the situation called for behavioural change.

He urged men to take responsibility and protect women from any kind of violence.

He said it was sad to see young girls suffering at the hands of grown men through rape adding that it was an abomination.

Mr Mbulawa noted that most of abuse related cases were associated with alcohol and drug abuse.

He implored men to introspect and change for the better as well as to stop excessive use of alcohol and drugs.

He further advised men to open up and enhance their self-discipline so that they could be accountable for their actions.

Mr Mbulawa also raised a concern about the cases of murder and passion killings, which were escalating at an alarming rate in the region with men still being the perpetrators.

He noted that they were supposed to be the backbone and protectors of women not the other way round.

He confirmed that on rare cases women were involved in offences related to gender-based violence as well.

Officer Commanding District No.8 senior superintendent Sarah Gabathusi stated that statistics showed that in 2015, there were 187 total cases recorded related to gender-based violence in Boteti, whereas in 2016 there were 137 cases.

In 2017, she said there were 106 cases.

She pointed out that men were still involved in those cases as perpetrators than women.

She said women were suffering at the hands of men especially those from whom women expect protection, adding men had the upper hand than women but that did not necessarily call for oppression.

She noted that women were also offenders in cases relating to abuse as well as they tend to abuse men emotionally and fight for property.

That, she said were some of the incidents, which could drive men to physically abuse them. ENDS