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More girls affected by sexual violence – report
Pregnant teenagers in Palabek Ogili Village in Lamwo District.There are few temporary shelters for victims of sexual and gender violence. PHOTO | KELVIN ATUHAIRE
What you need to know:
- Titled, “The annual crime report 2022,” it focused on children that had experienced all forms of sexual violence such as rape, defilement and other sex-related offences
About 35 girls below the age of 18, experience sexual violence everyday as per the recent report released by Uganda Police Force.
Titled, “The annual crime report 2022,” it focused on children that had experienced all forms of sexual violence such as rape, defilement and other sex-related offences.
“In 2022, a total of 8,960 cases of defilement, and 1,623 cases of rape were reported to Police compared to the 10,653 cases of defilement and 1,486 cases of rape reported in 2021 giving a 15.9 per cent decrease in defilement and 9.2 per cent increase in rape cases registered in the country,” the report reads in part.
More findings from the legal aid clinic at the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) indicate a large number of defilement cases reported after three months.
In light of this, different actors such as health, education, gender, finance, academia, researchers, and the legal sector will converge at The Uganda National Conference on Health, Human Rights and Development 2023 to be held in Kampala from September 26-29 in a bid to promote the health and well-being of all Ugandans.
Ms Fatia Kiyange, the Executive Director at CEHURD described the conference as “an innovation that brings together key components that help us realise SDG3 which is good health and well-being for all people.”
“For us to meet this by 2030, we should ensure that health, development and human rights are given equal attention because each of these is important and influences one another,” she explained.
Dr Charles Olaro, the Director of Curative Services at the Ministry of Health called upon unison between judicial and health systems to fight sexual abuse among children.
“The health sector is key in documenting and providing expert opinion when it comes to judgement apart from providing the mental and psycho-social aspect of it,” he said.
Prof Ben Twinomugisha, the chairperson of CEHURD encouraged sex education for children.
