Authorities at Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital (KRRH) are calling on local leaders to take urgent action to curb the rising cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the region.
According to Dr. Arthur Sserumaga, a surgeon at KRRH, the hospital attends to at least four GBV victims daily, with most being women.
“We have noticed a big increase in the number of GBV victims who seek treatment at the hospital every day. For every four GBV-related patients we attend to, at least three are women and one is a man. Because of the severity of the wounds the victims come with, we spend a lot of time attending to them, which time we would have used to attend to other patients with unavoidable ailments,” Dr. Sserumaga said during a community engagement meeting on Wednesday.
KRRH serves districts including Kayunga, Mukono, Buvuma, Buikwe, Luweero, and Nakaseke. The hospital held the meeting with local leaders, Village Health Teams, religious leaders, and police officers to sensitize them on combating GBV.
Collins Kafeero, Kayunga District Probation and Social Welfare Officer, attributed GBV to factors like alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, and moral degeneration. “Women should know that men are the head of families and want respect, and men should provide for their families if GBV cases are to be reduced,” he said, adding that 10,698,913 households are headed by women due to GBV and domestic violence, according to the 2024 Uganda population and housing census.
Kenneth Egesa, KRRH social worker, urged leaders to report GBV cases to authorities while maintaining confidentiality. “Men previously feared to report being beaten by their wives due to stigma, but now seek help,” he said.
Dr. Joan Nalwoga, a gynecologist at KRRH, highlighted the impact of GBV on women’s health, including miscarriages, and emphasized the need for social-psycho-support for victims.
“The victims not only want treatment but social-psycho-support to live a better life,” she said.
Dr. Robert Ssentongo, KRRH Director, encouraged GBV victims to seek free treatment at the hospital.