{UAH} Do we care for survivors of domestic violence?

The media has been running stories of how Moses Muhangi of Namasuba killed his lover and mother of their two children, Josephine Nambogo.

This is just an example of the many forms and consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among couples. The Word Health Organisation puts IPV among the top forms of violence against women. In Uganda, 60 per cent of married women have experienced at least one form IPV. The one question people often ask of survivors of such violence is: "Why do you stay in an abusive relationship?"  And often this is asked in a tone that blames the victims for having failed to walk away.

But there is a need to understand the underlying factors, otherwise the campaign against such violence will fail. No woman wants her marriage to fail. Nearly all survivors of domestic violence say so. One of the reasons they remain in this relationship is fear. They fear that the public will say "she didn't do enough to keep her marriage" or that her partner will spread horrible rumours about her or hunt her down and kill her.

The other reason is children. Majority of mothers have a special attachment to their children and they can never abandon them. The abused woman might also be deeply attached to her partner – evolving from the marriage vows they made. Others are economically dependent on their husbands. As a result, they keep hoping for change.

Some cultures devalue unmarried women, worse if they are divorced. Some women are taught how it's their responsibility to maintain the relationship, irrespective of the challenges.  Consequently, wife-beating is, in some communities, taken as normal and acceptable. As a result, many people turn a 'deaf ear' to marital violence and believe that what happens behind closed doors is a 'private matter'.

That said, Nambogo had overcome all these and many other barriers. She had left her abusive husband and relocated to her parents' home, only to be killed at the (parents') gate by the very husband she had run away from. This brings a question into the equation: what safety measures do we have for survivors of violence against women in Uganda?  

Matayo Baluku,
THETA Uganda.

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Without God, our week would be: Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday,Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday & Shatterday. Remember seven days without God makes one WEAK!!"And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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