The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa has asked Civil Society Organisations to refocus and find the drivers of Gender Based Violence(GBV), saying that most of these cases are happening down in the countryside communities.
He tasked the players to take the fight against GBV outside conference and air conditioned rooms.
Tayebwa explained that most of the cases of GBV are common in the villages because women and girls there are not empowered to report.
The Deputy Speaker made the remarks while presiding over at the high level stakeholders engagement by the Uganda Parliamentary Women Association (UWOPA).
“Upcountry mainly, I think it’s due to low levels of education, poverty, alcohol and primitive beliefs that a man is above a woman even when a woman is feeding a man,” he said.
He committed that Parliament as an institution would continue deliberate action in supporting UWOPA in their campaign to end violence towards girls and women.
Tayebwa said parliament has realised developments in creating an enabling environment for eliminating GBV through enactment of laws.
“We want to ensure that we pass laws and policies and ensure that are fully implemented,”he said.
At least 644,955 teenage pregnancies were recorded during the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Figures from the agency show that since March 2020 when COVID-19 hit the world, an estimated 354,736 teenage pregnancies were reported following the closure of all schools in the country for at least eight months.
An additional 290,219 pregnancies were reported between January and September 2021.
Tayebwa said that these figures at endemic proportion levels have a very devastating impact on health, wellbeing, education and future economic productivity of girls towards gender equality
Violence against women has recently taken new, more sophisticated forms. An increasing number of women are, for instance, reporting cyber-bullying and abuse through social media and smartphones.
Sarah Mateke, the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs called for a revamp in strategies to end GBV and other violations.
“GBV is a reality in our society and as Members I request that we unite so that we can end this,”Mateke said.
