By Kiyimba Bruno
Women, under the umbrella of Uganda Women Network (UWONET) have asked the police to finalise investigations into Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases in the country
Lead by Ritah Aciro, the Executive Director UWONET, the women claim that the pace at which police handling GBV cases is very slow.
“Up to date, we have not received any report of all the women who were brutally murdered,” Aciro while giving her remarks on the ‘Status of Women in the Country’ during the launch of the fourth National Women’s Week in Kampala
Aciro added that women and girls in Uganda live under fear, day and night hence the need for urgent attention.
According to Aciro, women are the most involved in ungainful employment as well as being affected by higher unemployment rates as compared to their male counterparts.
“Women experience an unacceptably gap that stands at 41%” Aciro explained
On insecurity, the Executive Director for Legal Aid Providers Network Uganda, Ms Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa said specific issues including discriminatory socio-cultural practices like inheritance and property ownership further constrain women’s economic empowerment.
She went ahead to explain that although women form the bulk of agricultural labor force, only 25.5 per cent control the land that they cultivate and only 7 per cent of registered land is owned by women.
Although Uganda has adopted various legal and policy reforms to address GBV, the source is still a very pervasive challenge for Ugandan women.
The 2017 annual crime report by Police revealed that in 2017, a total of 15,325 cases of Domestic Violence were reported.
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