Counseling Centers in Gulu district are grappling with rising cases of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) as communities start to harvest crops from their gardens.
At Unyama Counseling Centre in Loyoboo village, in Gulu, at least eight cases on average are reported daily, all are against women perpetuated by their husbands.
Ms Sunday Aciro, the Center Manager says for the first time in five years, they received only 12 cases in July this year.
Aciro says they are always overwhelmed during harvest season where women report men for violent attack on them.
Aciro who is also one of the five counselors offering psychosocial support to the GBV survivors explained that disagreement always comes in whenever one of the partners want to sell of stored harvest.
“Men want to take charge of food stuff and once a woman challenges him, he will become annoyed and attack her in an attempt to assert his authority,” She said.
In May alone, 78 cases were reported against men who have attacked and forced their spouses out of their marital homes over stored food crops.
Meanwhile in June, cases of SGBV dropped to 60.
On a bad day, a counselor can handle up to six clients with severe cases.
Ms Kevin Lakot, a resident of Loyoboo, one of the most affected villages in Gulu says men usually question whether the food in question is grown in a plot of land the woman carried from their parent’s home.
Lokot, a mother of three who suffered abuse in the hands of her husband attributed the problem to drinking.
But Mr Justine Okot, 41, who admitted attacking his wife on several occasions before attributed the problem to disrespect.
Okot, a father of seven explained that women always want to pick and sell stored food without first seeking consent from their husbands, something he described as a sign of disrespect.
However, so far, Okot has become a model husband his village at Loyoboo after receiving counseling services.
Ms Pamela Judith Angwech, the Executive Director Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization – (GWED-G), an organization which has set up the counseling center with support from UN Women says the challenge is lack of economic empowerment among women which makes them more vulnerable.
“If women have access to finances, they can reduce on their vulnerably since they can become self sufficient and can contribute to the family wellbeing,” She said.
Mr Alfred Ocakacon, the in-charge of Child and Protection Unit at Gulu Central Police Station asked couples to respect one another.
From January- May this year, police crime record at Gulu Central Police Station indicates that at least 91 cases of domestic violence, 203 cases of child neglect and 46 cases of child desertion were reported.
