Violence Against Women
At least 54 per cent of women and 38 per cent of men aged between 15 and 49 years believe that husbands are justified in beating their wives, according to a recent survey conducted by a Dar es Salaam-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Champion.
Speaking at the launch of a campaign called “Be a Role Model” against gender-based violence (GBV) in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, Champion project director Brian Grant said the campaign aimed at changing the habit of physical and sexual violence in intimate partnerships.
“We know that over the generations, violence against women has become an established norm and is seen as an obvious way for a man to enforce rules in his house and feel in control of the family and respect in society,” he noted.
He explained that for six months the campaign would run on TV, radio and community-based programmes to build capacity and make members of the public aware that domestic or gender-based violence was never justified and even forced sex with a partner was violence.
For her part, Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs Law Celina Kombani, who represented First Lady Salma Kikwete, said although the campaign targeted men, some of them experienced GBV from their wives, who had good jobs and salaries but kept quiet. She called upon women to respect their husbands and not forcing them to use power when demanding their conjugal rights.
Kombani said the government was preparing a white paper to collect people’s views on the Marriage and Inheritance Act, as the government was in a process to review the current one.
US ambassador to Tanzania Alfonso Lenhardt said the role model campaign was dedicated to create public awareness on negative impacts of gender-based violence and encouraging men to be supportive partners.
“American people stand in solidarity with Tanzanians to fight against GBV. Our joint support for this media campaign is one of the many examples of how we are together in addressing violence against women and children,” he said.
Lenhardt assured Tanzanians that the US government would continue to vigorously partnering with them in addressing gender-based violence in the months and years to come. The American people recently committed USD 21million for three years to supporting national response to GBV.
