On 7th March 2025, WORUDET and allied rights organizations in Kitgum and Lamwo districts issued a powerful press statement ahead of International Women’s Day, drawing urgent attention to the escalating crisis of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Acholi sub-region. IPV—defined as physical, sexual, or psychological harm within intimate relationships—was underscored as a pervasive threat cutting across age, income, ethnicity, and religion.
The organizations highlighted alarming statistics from the 2024 Uganda Police Annual Crime Report, which recorded 14,126 victims of domestic violence, with women disproportionately affected at 72.7 percent. The Uganda National Bureau of Statistics further revealed that IPV prevalence nationally stands at 45 percent, but surges to 78 percent in Acholi, making it the highest in the country. Recent murders in Kitgum and Lamwo districts, where men killed their partners, illustrate the severity of the crisis and the urgent need for action.
The statement condemned all forms of violence in the home, stressing that IPV is particularly destructive because it occurs between people who are supposed to care for one another. It called on government agencies, from LC1s to district police, to intensify surveillance, arrests, and prosecutions, while ending the practice of families “negotiating away” cases instead of reporting them.
Acknowledging the resource constraints faced by law enforcement, the organizations urged Members of Parliament to advocate for increased police funding, and appealed to development partners to continue supporting the justice, law, and order sector. They emphasized that cultural institutions such as Ker Kwaro Acoli must revive their traditional roles in protecting women and ensuring perpetrators face corrective measures.
Religious, cultural, political leaders, and the media were challenged to openly condemn IPV and to sensitize communities, ensuring survivors are supported and perpetrators held accountable. The statement further stressed the importance of equipping duty bearers with knowledge and skills to detect early warning signs of violence, noting that in recent murders, family and friends were aware of the victims’ vulnerability but failed to act.
Finally, the organizations encouraged partners to use both formal and informal referral systems—LCs, police, clan leaders, relatives—as avenues to resolve conflicts rather than resorting to violence, and urged actors in these pathways to respond with urgency.
WORUDET and its partners reaffirmed their commitment to ending IPV and all forms of domestic violence, pledging solidarity with survivors and families of victims. They declared their persistence and steadfastness in building a Uganda where no woman or man in an intimate relationship lives in fear of violence.
Click to download the Actual Press Statement
