By definition, culture refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of culture reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating human activity.
In general, the term culture denotes the whole product of an individual, group or society of intelligent beings. It includes technology, art and science, as well as moral systems and the characteristic behaviours and habits of the society's members. In particular, it has specific meanings in different domains of human activities.
Violence is the use of force or the threat of its use to force someone to do something that the person might not otherwise do.
Fred Nshimiyimana a resident of Nyanza in the southern province was recently arrested for beating his wife to comma, surprisingly, the neighbours and family friends were aware of the violence which had been taking place for along time but had done nothing to help since most of them felt it was not their concern and the violated wife kept quite till she was hit to comma.
"They always had fights especially whenever Fred came back drunk but we could not interfere because such fights are not new in our culture, our fathers beat-up our mothers whenever they would have misunderstandings. I think Fred should be punished. He almost killed her, said Jean Damascene Bigira also Fred's immediate neighbour, while talking to this reporter.
Culture is no excuse
Why should we use excuses of our culture to cause violence, why should we try to live lives our grandfathers lived? Why should a violated person keep quiet to accepting daily suffering? Is it due to a cultural believed that a man had a right to punish his wife?
For centuries, culture has been used by many communities to explain and justify violence against women. These claims are based on frozen, male-defined ideas of culture under the excuse of maintaining tradition. Many people have used cultural defences to justify violence against women. For instance, in many African communities, beating one's wife was seen as normal and a right to every husband.
Most men have used culture to defend violence against women. One will easily tell you that "people in my culture behave this way and believe women should be treated this way, so it is alright for me to do so."
In many communities, it was culturally believed that a woman had no right in choosing her spouse. The parents always decided for their daughters the kind of men they married and in some cultures, the arrangements would go on to the final day without her knowledge. In some African communities, a girl that got pregnant before marriage was executed, leaving the man responsible for her pregnancy free of any charges.
In Israel, the land where Christianity is believed to have originated, women and children were not considered during the national census. They were considered their husbands' property, and on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the bible clearly shows that only men were counted.
In temples and public places, the Jewish culture isolated women, who always were separated and pushed behind men. It was abomination for women to address or conduct teachings in public places and in temples. Why is it that most cultures in the world formerly created space for gender violence? Could this be related to the 'Adam & Eve' story we read in the bible?
Some people have even gone as far as using specific scriptures in the bible to justify superiority against women. For example, one will tell you that the bible says man was created first and woman last, from a man's rib, and created specifically as a man's helper, forgetting that the same bibles says that man and women are equal in God's presence.
Gender violence is a problem of significant proportions that still affects all societies to a greater or lesser extent. Yet, most people are unaware of the magnitude, causes, and consequences of gender violence.
Women all over the world face acts of violence that result in physical, sexual and psychological harm or suffering. These results can include threats of violence, force or arbitrary deprivation of liberty in public or private life. There have been so many cases where adults have raped children below 18years of age.
Surprisingly, there have also been several cases of children between one and ten years old being abused by adults. What is the meaning and the intention of such sexual assault? Can someone ever find pleasure in abusing a one year-old kid? Some people even believe - and I hear are told by witchdoctors - that having sex with a kid can cure HIV/Aids. What is the science in this? Do the people involved in such crimes have any sense of judgment? How can having sex with a kid get HIV out of your blood?
Cases of sexual harassment, trafficking, mistreatments, forced female circumcision and violence against female workers by their bosses are still common in society. It has been known for some time that rape or sexual assault is not related to sexuality. It is dominance and an apparent need to humiliate the person being attacked. Similarly, beating as part of domestic violence is also at its heart an effort to assert dominance or to reassert a self-image based on power.
In some societies, gender-based violence has been attributed to poverty. Some parents have forced their daughters to tolerate brutal domestic violence from their rich husbands due to small contributions and offers the men give to their in-laws. Even in times of divorce, women have been harshly treated by their parents and forced back to their husbands, thus exposing them to endless violence with no one to lean on or any place to run to. In many African communities, polygamy is still a common practice where parents give in their daughters to already married wealthy men so as to access their riches, which has resulted into many polygamous women being abandoned and mistreated by their husbands.
Increased Gender related violence
According to Costa Habyara, Chief Superintendent in the Rwandan National Police and CID boss, gender-based violence is continuing to become a problem in the Rwandan society with many cases unreported due to the influence of the culture, resulting into some women fearing to report their husbands to the police.
The current statistics by the Rwandan National Police indicate that in January, February and March 2007, rape cases made the biggest number of all cases reported to the police.
Statistics also indicate that between 2002 and 2004, 6,440 gender-based violence related crimes were committed against women and children, and that between 75 and 80 percent of the victims were children under the age of eighteen.
Efforts to fights violence
The government of Rwanda is however doing everything possible to fight against gender-based violence (GBV) and as one of the measures taken by the Rwandan government to fight against GBV; a bill was adopted by general consensus in the Rwandan Parliament on August 3 2006.
The "Draft Law on the Prevention, Protection and Punishment of Any Gender-Based Violence" was prepared by the Forum for Rwandan Women Parliamentarians (FFRP) after a series of national consultations supported by UNIFEM and UNDP under the "Enhancing Protection from Gender-Based Violence" project.
The current Rwandan GBV bill acknowledges international instruments that enshrine the rights of women, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, and Rwanda's 2003 constitution. The bill also recognizes efforts to bring justice, through Gacaca and formal court systems, to the thousands of women who were sexually assaulted during the 1994 Genocide.
According to a document by United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the GBV bill consists of five chapters. The first identifies the objectives of the law and definition of terms, the second addresses fundamental principles for the prevention of GBV, the third identifies the obligations of various stakeholders in preventing GBV, the fourth provides for the penalties for various categories of GBV-related crimes, and the fifth shows the relationship between the GBV bill and other penal laws. Although the bill brings hope for enhancement in GBV prevention, much is still to be done because more women are still suffering.
As members of a civilized society, we need to say no to gender-based violence, particularly the increasing cases of violence against women. Much as the government is trying to solve the problem, we all as Rwandans need to offer our contribution in the fight because the next victims could be our mother, sister, daughter or friend. We need to say no to people who use the excuses of the ancient cultures to violate people's human rights.
Much as our culture holds fundamental principles of our existence and behaviour, we need to adopt positive and eradicate negative features in our culture so as to give all Rwandans, male and female, equal human rights and a better meaning for life.