STATISTICS released by the Ministry of Home Affairs have revealed that reported cases related to gender cruelty have substantially increased, the Chairperson of the Organizing Committee of the 16-day campaign against gender cruelty, Ms Honoratha Nasuwa has said.

She said there were 3,997, 4,278 and 8,874 reported rape cases during 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively while sodomy cases were 420, 512 and 567 over the same period, adding that there were a total of 18,648 cases of sexual offences for the three years under review.

Ms Nasuwa revealed that there was a significant rise in sexual offences by 10.66 %, compared to other offences, adding that in 2005 and 2006, the rise was 6.40 % and 6.96 % respectively.

"It is the duty of the entire members of our society to cooperate with the government organs to ensure that the trend is reversed so as to minimize occurrence of such offences which not only degrade humanity status but also affects the human body," she said.

She has expressed misgivings that despite stiff sentences of life imprisonment imposed on rape convicts, rape offences have become the order of the day, adding that harassment of women by their spouses have continued with impunity.

However, Ms Nasuwa noted that gender cruelty campaign has recorded success stories in that some members of the society are now at liberty to report gender harassment to relevant authorities regardless of threats issued against them by perpetrators of gender cruelty.