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Peace Hilary Tumwesigire (centre), a publisher from Rwanda flanked by Zimpapers staff

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Profile
When most people survive from gender-based violence, they often withdraw into a cocoon and find it difficult to reach out to individuals who may be in similar circumstances.

After surviving from gender-based violence from her first marriage, 39-year-old Peace Hilary Tumwesigire from Rwanda did not fret nor regard herself as a victim.

Instead, she used her experience as a launch pad to create awareness around gender-based violence in Rwanda.

It meant working with everyone from the ordinary villager up to powerful organs like the Rwanda Ministry of Defence to generate discourse around the trials and tribulations of gender-based violence.

Her determination and perseverance have become a source of inspiration to her countrymen and women who now enjoy the fruits of her efforts.

Today she is a publisher and a managing director of a publication, titled the Family Magazine, that focuses on gender-based violence and health among a litany of issues that bedevil the modern day family.

Family Magazine that is currently written in one of the local languages in Rwanda – Kinyarwanda – also has a section that does documentaries and film screenings of gender-based productions in some parts of rural Rwanda.

She is also a well-known television host in Rwanda of a family television station.

“Once societies eradicate gender-based violence in communities, peace and economic development become achievable.

“Until that happens, our societies will often be riddled with all social vices, which are often as a result of gender based violence,” revealed Peace during an interview in Harare recently.

Peace was in Zimbabwe recently on Women in News (WIN) media exchange programme that seeks to mentor, coach and equip women in media with leadership skills.

Peace who boasts nearly two decades of media experience believes that women are able to contribute effectively in all sectors of the economy and bud productively socially in a violent free environment.

The positive environment will eventually cascade throughout, Peace affirmed.

For someone who worked with the uniformed forces while writing for the Rwandese Ministry of Defence magazine, Ingabo, for the better part of her journalism career, it became clear to Peace, that the gender-based violence discourse could not be relegated to policymakers alone but needed concerted efforts from everyone.

“Being a woman and a civilian, among the uniformed forces was no mean task.

“During my first days I was ridiculed for daring to speak against gender-based violence. Some of the soldiers would even pass sexist remarks, which were meant throw me off the course,” she recalled.

It was at that point that Peace realised that although the country boasted of good gender mainstreaming and inclusion policies, there was still low uptake and implementations of the legislations.

Armed with nothing but a conviction to change the mindsets of uniformed forces, Peace engaged her bosses and lobbied for a gender desk for the Rwanda Defence Forces, which was a crucial arm within the ministry.

The provision for a gender desk was already on paper, but it had not been implemented. Having convinced them on the merits of such a move, the gender desk was eventually established in 2005, paving way for a lot of mainstreaming initiatives,” she said.

When the defence ministry magazine she was working for folded in 2009, Peace had already made a name as a passionate gender activist, who was bringing transformational change on the gender discourse in the country. It would only be a matter of time before she would unleash herself to the world.

She joined a human rights organisation that closed its doors three years later. It was during that period that period that Peace consummated her decision to register a magazine.

“I realised that I just could not continue to be in the shadows of big organisations. I now needed a platform from where I could disseminate information and engage my country people on what needs to be done to reduce gender based violence.”

With no funding, except her laptop, Peace created a blog and starting posting articles on women’s issues. By the end of 2012, she started receiving responses from diverse readership on her articles.

“People from my country want to read about issues pertaining to families. Following the genocide that tore my country apart for years, family is an important and integral unit in all our communities.

“While the rural communities do not read the magazine because of internet connectivity, they are able to share the same narratives from the film screenings and documentaries that we regularly show,” she said.

The popularity of the magazine influenced the establishment of a family television station in 2014 and the owner invited Peace to anchor one of the shows that tackles family issues, with a special focus of gender equality.

“Through my television programmes, film and documentaries as well as the magazine, we have managed to build a strong clientele that understands and appreciates the importance of eradicating gender-based violence.

Coming from a country touted as one of the leading nations in gender equality ahead of United States and United Kingdom, Peace has not struggled to get the necessary support both from her government and even the international donor community.

In Rwanda there are swathes of laws that give women the right to inherit land, share the assets and the country currently boasts of the highest number of women in Parliament in Africa.

Such a supportive structure allows women like Peace to dream more and contribute so much to sustain the momentum.

“I am already planning to expand the product in East Africa. We have since started publishing in English, with plans afoot to have similar editions in French and Swahili,” said the married mother of three.

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