Facing Domestic Violence for Mental Health in Rwanda: Opportunities and Challenges

AbstractThree Focus Group Discussion of participants from the population and ten individual interviews with key Informants were conducted in the Southern and in the Western Provinces of Rwanda. The research presented here was to investigate the opportunities and challenges in facing domestic violence. The opportunities, as they were identified by the participants, include listening to the victims, providing counselling and orienting them depending on the specificity of the case to be managed. For reported cases, victims receive medical treatment and HIV/AIDS test in case of sexual abuse. Mediation leading to eradication of violence by perpetrators is sometimes used. Other cases are legally dealt with using criminal code. Educative action to people in the community and sensitization sessions makes the victims aware of the interest of reporting. There exists collaboration of institutions dealing with domestic violence. Challenges perceived by participants include the magnitude of domestic violence in its level and in its negative consequences on children, suicide, murder and traumatism. Failure to report domestic violence is influenced by culture, type of domestic violence under question, psycho-social issues, fear of shame, and economic dependency of women. Failure to report is also influenced by the category of domestic violence and gender. The existing laws on domestic violence are not known or understood by the citizens. There is a lack of care givers in quality and in quantity. Domestic violence needs more assessment to know why it is continuously increasing so that it can be efficiently managed