Rehema Aanyu
18 August 2008
Kampala — HUMAN rights activists have urged the Government to pass the Domestic Relations Bill to curb the increasing violence against women.
Citing media reports of husbands murdering their wives for infecting them with HIV, the activists called on the Government to inject more money into the HIV/AIDS campaigns for couples.
"The Government should be actively involved in bringing these culprits to book," said Esther Kisakye, the executive director of the Uganda Network on Law Ethics and HIV/AIDS.
She criticised the Government's continued silence on the murder of women and their families by men.
According to Kisakye, the existing laws on domestic violence were weak for justice to prevail.
Kisakye made the remarks during a rally at the Ministry of Gender headquarters in Kampala recently.
Lydia Mungherera, the founder of Mama Club, said criminalising infecting others with HIV/AIDS would deter many people from establishing their sero status.
"Locking up the perpetrators for a few years does not help anyone. What we desire are laws that protect women against violence," she said.
Carrying placards with messages such as "women do not cause HIV/AIDS", "stop violence against women", "fight HIV/AIDS, stop discrimination", "Men wake up" and "HIV/AIDS does not mean that you should kill", the human rights activists marched from Kampala Pentecostal Church to Parliament.
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