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By Esther Namirimu
THE UN Women country representative, Hodan Addou has said that Uganda is to be commended for setting the policy frameworks and structures for gender based violence (GBV) prevention and response which includes the Domestic Violence Act of 2010, the prevention of Trafficking in Person Act (2009), and the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (2010).
She also added that the National Development Plan seeks to address GBV as a core strategy for achieving the goal of promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.
The amendment of the Police Form 3 (PF3) also allows other medical workers to treat survivors of GBV, thus increasing access to justice for the affected.
Addou note that GBV is still a challenge. According to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey of 2011, 56% of women in Uganda have experienced physical violence at some point since the age of 15 years.
28% of women aged 15-49 have experienced sexual violence and 16 % have experienced violence during pregnancy.
"Police records show high numbers of defilement and rape which make girls vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, sexually transmitted infection including HIV. Harmful cultural practices like early marriage and Female Genital Mutilation are serious GBV issues in Uganda (UDHS 2011)," she added.
According to the recent study by the Economic Commission for Africa and UN Women, domestic violence imposes significant costs to the victims, communities and to countries in Africa.
This includes cost to survivors for medical fees, transport and fees for legal and other support services provided by the government and non-governmental organizations, as well as costs related to high absentee rates of girls and women in education, absence in the labour market and productive economic activities as a result of gender based violence.
Although the date for Uganda is still preliminary, it was estimated that...