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Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Local leaders in Luwero district are worried following an increase in cases of domestic violence.
According to the Police crime report for 2022 released this week, Luwero district registered 501 domestic violence cases from 340 cases registered in 2021.
As result, Luwero was ranked the second district with the highest cases after Kiryandongo which emerged as the worst with 520 cases of domestic violence in 2022. Luwero district jumped from ninth position in 2021 to second position in 2022.
Joyce Namigadde, the Senior Probation Officer for Luwero District explains that the increase in cases is due to conflicts arising from rapid urbanization, alcoholism, property grabbing and unemployment among other factors.
Namigadde observed that some cases have left several women and children injured, displaced among other effects. She notes that several other cases go unreported in communities since they are resolved by local councils without going to the Police.
Ronald Ndawula the District Chairperson for National Resistance Movement says that families stuck in poverty are likely to experience domestic violence hence the need for government to draw programmes that address the problem.
Although Parliament passed a law that criminalized domestic violence in 2010, the majority of the cases were settled at Police stations through counseling the couples and re-uniting them because victims lack support if the perpetrators are jailed.
But Salim Zimula, a human rights activist notes that the approach to reconcile couples rather than prosecute culprits has partly contributed to the escalation of domestic violence cases.
Brenda Nabukenya, the Luwero District Woman Member of Parliament asked to implement Parliament’s resolution to construct shelters to host victims of domestic violence, especially in affected districts.
Nabukenya says that so many women opt to live with abusive husbands because they have nowhere to relocate after reporting them to the Police.
Prisca Birungi, the Officer In Charge of the Child and Family Protection Unit at Luwero Central Police Station said that the report is an eye-opener for local leaders to join efforts to sensitize their residents about the problem.
Birungi said that as Police Unit, they have no resources to conduct community policing in every village to sensitize the public about the crime hence the need for intervention of all leaders.
Police partly attribute the increased reported cases to trust in the Force in the fight for justice by the residents.
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