As most Rwandans stay or work from home to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic, domestic violence has increased
Women are increasingly bearing the brunt of unpaid care workload and domestic violence during Covid-19 lockdown.
As most Rwandans stay or work from home to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic, domestic violence has increased, especially in rural areas.
For instance, the 25-years old family of Jean Marie Vianney Bangambiki, 58, and his wife Eugenie Mujawirema, 44, was on the blink of collapsing due to the consistent abuses and quarrels, which were caused uneven sharing of house responsibilities.
As a farmer, Mr Bangambiki who has been spending most of his time in the farms, while her wife runs a restaurant in the nearby centre of Ruhinga cell to meet the end meat for their family of five children, but still his woman lonely bears the household chores burned.
“Our family’s misunderstandings have been always flaring up due to looking down and lack of communication on evenly sharing of the house responsibilities and the situation goes out of control with the lockdown kicks in,” Mr Bangambiki told Rwanda Today.
“As the results of the consistent abuses and quarrels, the family’s means of income was lost to the extent that it started becoming a challenge for the students to get the school fees,” Mr Bangambiki added.
Just like Bangambiki’s family, the family of Adrien Bavakure, 32, and his wife Alphonsine Imaniradukuna, 28, is experiencing domestic violence due to alcohol abuse.
A family of Ruhunga cell in Gitesi sector of Karongi district told Rwanda Today domestic violence intensified during the lockdown. “... We suffer a lot because he abuses alcohol which cost him formal employment,” she added.
Mrs Imaniradukunda, a mother of two, said the situation has started changing after joining the Abivuguruye Group, a group of families, which have been having the family quarrels but later vowed to change for good.
“Positive changes in passion and the revitalised feeling has started emerging within our family, after being trained and counselled,” Mr Imaniradukunda said.