Speaker Anita Among, has asked the government to kick off the implementation of the laws passed by Parliament aimed at protecting girls and women against gender-based violence.

Some of laws that were passed by Parliament include, the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2010, the Domestic Violence Act, 2010 and Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009.

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"Once we create this awareness, you are making accountability to yourself on what contribution you have made to the community in reducing the gender-based violence amongst women and girls," she noted.

Among made the remarks during the launch of the annual international campaign dubbed, '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) with an appeal to legislators to be at the forefront of creating awareness among the people they represent.

She noted that although Parliament has passed legislation aimed at eliminating 'the virus', implementation has remained poor due to budgetary constraints.

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"The laws must be implemented to the latter and there should not be any discrimination. We also need to ensure that the laws on gender-based violence elimination must be budgeted for," said Among.

The minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi, said there was a growing trend of violence among couples which the campaign hopes to address, adding that cases of defilement on the increase which are persuaded by parents, guardians and relatives.

"We know fathers, brothers and other relatives who have defiled their daughters and sisters. We are seeing many in the media. We therefore want to start with homes. Violent homes can easily force a girl to run away from her violent home into early marriage," she stated.

The campaign which was launched is supported by the Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association (UWOPA), UN Women, United Nations Population Fund and the embassies of Netherlands and Sweden.