Violence Against Women
Source: The New Republic
The Ministry of Gender and Development has said there are 2,652 cases of domestic violence since the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence against Women was signed into law. Making the assertion Monday July 7, 2014 during a one-day media awareness working session on the draft domestic bill with journalists at the Ministry, Madam Annette Kiawu, Deputy Minister for Technical Services, said the figure of rape leads with 900 on domestic crime-related list covering the period of 2009 to 2013.
The Deputy Minister, who is calling on the media to help provide the platform for citizens both in rural and urban communities in the country to see the need for the passage of draft bill, said the document is a legal framework developed to address the issues of domestic violence in the country.
She said categories of domestic violence, which include fighting, kicking, knocking on another person within the family that could end up hurting the body, sexually, mental imbalance or other sufferings and pains to women, men and children, are divided into physical, emotional and economic abuses.
The draft bill defines physical violence verbal and psychological.
Physical violence, according to the draft bill, is doing something to someone or putting fear in someone to do something bad; while emotional abuse is a situation where a person calls other person funny names, or stops another person from doing things freely.
"Economic abuse means denying somebody money or other things that are supposed to be for that person under the law for life and protection, or denial of basic resources due to conflict," Madam Kiawu added.
She pointed out abandonment, persistent non-support, physical assault, harmful traditional practice as the least recorded by the Ministry of Gender and Development.
At the end of the session, journalists were formed into a network for gender-sensitive reporting.
The 'union' of Journalists suggested a number of recommendations. One of the recommendations proffered is engagement with national lawmakers and their constituents to continually educate or remind them about the essence of the document to create awareness to enhance the passage of the draft bill.
The Gender & Development official outlined that the draft bill, and noted that when enacted into law, the document will create a legal platform to address issues relative to domestic violence and help make the society better for men, women and children.