On 22ndJune, 2015 CEDOVIP met with the Director of Public Prosecutions His Lordship Justice Mike Chibita in his chambers at Worker’s house in Kampala to discuss a working relationship with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in response to violence against women and girls (VAW/G) prevention and response.
CEDOVIP team was led by the Executive Director, Tina Musuya and was received by the Deputy Head of DPP Gender Department, State Lucy Kabakuma who presented the team to the Director.
During the meeting, CEDOVIP presented the need for the two entities to partner and collaborate to support delivery of justice to survivors of VAW/G to;
- Ensure reduction in crimes of GBV (domestic violence, rape/defilement, child marriages etc)
- Improve prosecution of GBV cases and the service provided to victims and witnesses
- Bring more perpetrators to justice; improving the support, safety and satisfaction of victims; and increasing public confidence in the criminal justice system.
This partnership will see CEDOVIP and DPP closely working together; this is a step forward in strengthening the JLOS coordination in the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. The two agreed to the following;
- DPP to participate in CEDOVIP’s advisory steering committee meetings.
- CEDOVIP to be part of the task force developing the prosecutors’ manual on GBV.
- Jointly provide technical support to prosecutors in handling VAW/G cases.
“Victims of domestic violence suffer on many levels – including deterioration to their health, loss of housing and disruption to education. Domestic violence is a peculiar and complex crime. Therefore it is also crucial that prosecutors recognize the importance of support for victims from the outset and throughout the life of the case.The dynamics of domestic violence/GBV mean that victims will often be reluctant to support the prosecution case, or may change their minds part way through the prosecution process” Diana Kagere – CEDOVIP.
“As the DPP we can use the many hands we can get. Our biggest challenge to successful prosecution is case backlog and lack of witnesses… One of the things that I believe will help prosecution is the National Identification program, this will ease prosecution since they will be able to follow up on witnesses and perpetrators who are released on police bond.” Justice Mike Chibita.