Musekera Ismael, the overall winner
The National Union of Disability Organizations In Rwanda(NUDOR) has found creative art an effective tool that would be used to counter gender based violence(GBV) among the persons with disabilities and other vulnerable people.
NUDOR is joining the world for the 16 days of activism Against Gender Based Violance under the theme ‘All for GBV-free families’ which started on November 25th.
Implemented under the “Make Way” project- a Rwandan Consortium program that seeks to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) among people with compound disabilities and other vulnerable groups, the campaign seeks to reach a wide range of people and stakeholders.
In this context, on Thursday, November 28, they made final touches on a new tool that would help the call to fight against gender based violence be heard by everyone, regardless of their status.
Organizers convened creative artists in poetry and drawing to find who does better in packaging a message that would appeal to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable people and encourage them to speak out whenever they are abused.
Two runners-up from the two categories and an overall winner were thus awarded with cash prizes and requested to continue working on messages that would encourage victims of GBV to speak out.
“We expect these art pieces to reach out to as many people as possible because they are carrying a strong message. We also want to keep in touch with the authors so that they can continue to support the campaign against GBV within the sixteen days and beyond because it is a problem that cannot be dealt with overnight,” said Arianne Dusenge, the focal point of Make Way at NUDOR said.
Dusenge Arianne
“We want to built a strong network that would help disseminate information against GBV to many people as we give our contribution to the 16 days of activism bringing the youth on board to point a finger to GBV so they are en-routed.”
Musekera Ismael, the overall winner produced an artwork of a young lady who faced GBV. “There are people who faced GBV and choose to keep quiet fearing to be i trouble from the people behind the crime. The young lady this time decided to speak out,” he said.
“I have drawn her scars of GBV on her body which encouraged other people with the same problem to also speak out.”
For Musekera, speaking about GBV experience gives other victims courage to overcome fear and be able to speak.
“To all those GBV victimes, speak out! You will encourage other victims to speak out and justice will be found,” said the artist.
