Rwandan Police and the UN women agency (UNIFEM) signed an agreement on July 9 to open a multi-service centre in Kigali for survivors of child, domestic and gender-based violence.
The centre, to be located in Kigali’s Kacyiru Police Hospital, will be named Isange, which means “feel welcome and free” in Kinyirwanda. Similar centres that exist in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Sweden are said to be valuable to survivors.
Current services that address sexual, child and gender-based violence are not adequate as they are often scattered, and thus do not provide timely and efficient responses, UNIFEM said in statement.
According to recent joint UNIFEM and the National University of Rwanda study, violence survivors said police, hospitals and courts are not structured to encourage people who face violence to report it.
The Isange Centre is meant to address this problem. In addition to providing treatment for physical and psychological trauma, it is supposed to protect clients from further violence, provide crime investigation, medical testing and referrals to court.
The UN’s Resident Coordinator, Aurelien Agbénonci, said a multi-sector response and prevention strategy is being implemented to prevent violence. “This centre goes one step further to make this strategy a reality by providing comprehensive, timely, affordable and effective services”, he said.
The centre will work together with the gender desks of the national police and Rwanda Defence Forces, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and civil social organizations. It is receiving joint support from UNIFEM, UNFPA and UNICEF.
Currently, there is no date for when the centre will be open.