Darius Mugisha
19 September 2011
opinion
Domestic violence in Uganda has become infamous. The vice has grown from threats to grave assault incidents and recently, we have experienced high profile murder cases resulting from domestic violence. Some of high profile cases that had stains of domestic violence are the case of Arua Municipality MP Akbar Godi who was charged, tried and found guilty of sending his wife, Rehema Caesar to an early death on December 4, 2008.
A few months back, the High Court in Kampala sentenced businessman, Thomas Nkulungira a.k.a Tonku to death for murdering his girlfriend Brenda Karamuzi and dumping her body in a septic tank. A post-mortem report on the deceased confirmed that Brenda was brutally murdered with six stab wounds on both her neck and face.
While Tonku and Godi?s cases have taken centre stage because of the statuses of the people involved, several such cases go unnoticed. Unfortunately, the 2010 criminal report does not provide clear statistics of how many domestic violence cases are reported annually, monthly or weekly and if cases are on the increase or decrease.
Ms Christine Alaro, the acting commissioner of the children and family protection unit in the Police Force says, very few cases of physical violence are recorded by couples. ?The cases of beatings and physical attacks are very few and the most reported are psychological violence amongst couples.?
However Ms Alaro indicated that many a time when the case involves injuries and bruises, it is instantly registered as assault. ?The 2010 report doesn?t break down the statistics of domestic violence and even if it did, most domestic violence cases that involve injuries are categorised as assault,? she says.
Causes of domestic violence
According to Mr Paul Nyende, a lecturer in the Department of Mental Health and Community Psychology at Makerere University Institute of Psychology, power and dominance, are a major cause of domestic violence especially in our era of equality. He says, ?To assume control and power in relationships, partners tend to do things to stand out as most powerful. In most cases, their actions yield different forms of violence.? He says frustration and stress can be a cause.
Ms Flora Tumwebaze of Joint Clinical Research centre also highlighted that HIV/Aids has played a big role in causing domestic violence as it brings about disclosure issues that change the pattern of communication.
Mr Nyende supplements that change in pattern of communication usually leads to a breakdown or poor communication that leads to domestic violence amongst couples.
Both Mr Nyende and Ms Tumwebaze agree that financial reversal or financial constraints are key players in causing domestic violence. The two counsellors agree that financial constraints raise expenditure issues which often lead to collision between partners. ?Sometimes domestic violence is as a result of personality.
Some people can?t control their tempers. Other people are jealous and will do anything out of jealousy,? Mr Nyende adds. He says, drugs and alcohol have also, played a big role in causing physical violence amongst partners since they rob people of their rightful thinking and they end up becoming very aggressive.
Curbing domestic violence
Although she doubted her authority to divulge statistics of domestic violence, Alaro Christine, said that the police has the capacity to handle domestic violence cases to a big extent. ?During the induction course, all children and family protection police officers undergo elementary training to handle domestic violence related cases.?
Ms Alaro adds that for big cases, the police partners with counsellors but the elementary skills help most of the time,? Ms Alaro said. Mr Nyende on the other hand advises that people in relationships should undergo pre-marital counseling ?especially those planning to get married or live together.? ?People go into relationships with differing expectations and they tend to react badly when they disagree or get disappointed, however with pre-marital counselling, partners are able to handle different situations in a better way,? Mr Nyende adds.
Mr Nyende also recommends relationship management workshops for all people readying for relationships and those in relationships. ?Most organisations carry out seminars and workshops on increasing productivity at work, but they forget that people have relationships. Organisations need to understand that when a worker has a happy relationship, it also contributes a lot to his/ her productivity at work,? Mr Nyende said.
Mr Nyende finally advises couples to always seek counsellor?s guidance whenever something happens in their relationships before resorting to violence.
AllAfrica ? All the Time
Read this article:
Uganda: The Scourge of Domestic Violence
Source: http://www.thenigeriandaily.com/2011/09/19/uganda-the-scourge-of-domestic-violence-2/
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