By Sarah Achen Kibisi.
The Uganda Women Parliamentary Association-UWOPA has asked government to allocate funds for the construction of regional shelters for girls and women facing gender based violence.This was requested by the Chairperson UWOPA Hon. Sarah Opendi while officiating at a function at parliament to commemorate the 16 days of activism against GBV that started on 23rd of November and ended on 10th December 2022.Opendi who is also the Tororo district woman MP challenged married couples to love each other as a way of preventing GBV in families and communities justifying that where love is no one can harm one another.She said that for the victims of GBV, the government through the ministry of gender, regional shelters should be constructed to provide refugees to those running away from violence and seeking justice.Furthermore Opendi has also appealed to the deputy speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa who was also the guest of honor to resurrect and allow the retabling of the sexual offenses bill as a private members bill as one of the means to address the challenges of GBV. Meanwhile, at the opening of the function this month, the Deputy speaker Hon. Tayebwab urged men to always support their wives at home rather than wanting to be treated like kings.He said it’s shameful to men who mistreat their wives whenever they return home claiming to be tired from work and want to be served as bosses thus promising to start a name and shame process in parliament on MPs who are found practicing GBV.The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has appealed for the involvement of men and boys in programs aimed at eliminating Gender Based Violence. She made the statement while launching a campaign dubbed “16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) on women and girls’ at Parliament.The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has appealed for the involvement of men and boys in programs aimed at eliminating Gender Based Violence.Among was speaking recently at the launch of a campaign dubbed “16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on women and girls at Parliament. The launch was organized by the Uganda Parliamentary Women Association (UWOPA) and was attended by the Ambassadors of the Netherlands and Sweden, among other officials.The 16 Days of Activism was an annual international campaign observed from 25th November to 10th December 2022 to raise awareness among the population on the dangers of gender-based violence.Recently while launching the event at parliament, Speaker of parliament, Hon. Anita Among said there was a growing trend of violence among couples which the campaign hopes to address, citing the 2021 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) report which puts intimate partner sexual violence prevalence at 36 percent and physical violence among women at 47 percent. Amongi also appealed for the government’s attention to Bukedi sub-region which she said was leading in cases of intimate partner violence at 48 percent, followed by Acholi at 47 percent and Elgon at 33 percent ■
