Police ask gender-based violence victims to always speak out

Members of the public facing any form of gender-based violence and against children to always speak out but also report to authorities for redress.

“Any child or person who is a victim of violence can report to their parent or guardian, trusted person, local leaders and the nearest police within their locality. Don’t keep quiet,” said  Rashida Mugawe, the deputy at the Sexual and Children Related Offences Department at the  Criminal Investigations Division headquarters in Kibuli.

Mugawe was speaking during a community outreach program organized by Integrated Youth Development Organization, a local NGO in Kyebando Kampala.

She noted that cases of violence normally increase in communities during such times like the lockdown but noted that many of them go unreported.

Mugawe on the other side urged children to protect themselves against abusers by staying home, concentrate on reading their books, avoid talking to strangers and avoiding moving during late hours but also respecting their parents whom she said should be treated as friends to them.

"We are doing capacity building for our officers to equip them with knowledge and skills to be able to respond to any matter of sexual gender-based violence within their policing areas. We also want to equip them with skills in the investigation of the reported crimes but also sensitizing the public through the media so that we empower the communities with information on how to safeguard themselves against any form of violence” she noted.

Mugawe urged members of the public to report cases of gender-based violence and violence against children on 0800199195, a police toll-free number specifically set up for that purpose.