In the wake of last week’s International Women’s Day celebrations, Boniface Nduwimana, the representative of the local organization Association Hommes en Détresse (Men in Distress Association), urged the Burundian government and human rights organizations to draft new laws or revise existing ones to ensure gender equality in the application of justice. He emphasized that violence against men should be acknowledged and punished on the same level as any other form of abuse.
Nduwimana said that while this day is dedicated to celebrating women’s rights, many men continue to suffer injustices inflicted by women in households, workplaces, during travel, and in other areas of life. “We are asking for the enactment of a law or the revision of existing legislation to ensure that the violence suffered by men is acknowledged and punished fairly,” he said, noting that current laws fail to address the rising number of abuses against men.
He said that traditionally, gender-based violence was mostly associated with men harming women in domestic settings. However, new cases of abuse targeting men are emerging, especially in workplaces and during travel, while domestic violence against men remains largely unaddressed. He also criticized the increasing number of men who are physically assaulted, murdered, expelled from their homes, or stripped of their property by their spouses. Some women, he claimed, deliberately enter marriage with the sole intention of accumulating wealth through divorce, with the support of certain families that view separation as a means of financial gain.
Nduwimana called on human rights institutions and family welfare organizations to treat both men and women equally in cases of domestic disputes, as many men believe these organizations unfairly side with women. “Many men complain that these institutions often favor women, weakening men’s position in their households and exposing them to further victimization,” he said.
The association also urged the government to officially recognize a Men’s Day, providing men with a platform to voice the injustices they face so that such issues become widely acknowledged and addressed. “If men are given the opportunity to speak out about their suffering, it would encourage victims to come forward and deter perpetrators from continuing their abusive actions with impunity,” Nduwimana said.
He further called for the repeal of the rule that automatically registers a child under the husband’s name, arguing that cases of paternity fraud have led to distressing situations where men discover that children they legally recognized and raised are not biologically theirs. “This constitutes a painful betrayal and deep humiliation for many men,” he said.
This debate gained further attention last week during International Women’s Day celebrations in Bubanza western province, where Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye also spoke on the issue of paternity. He insisted that every child must have a recognized biological father and condemned practices that assign children to someone who is not their actual father. “It is strictly forbidden for a child not to have a recognized biological father. It is a grave insult to suggest that a child born out of wedlock should be registered under the grandfather’s name, as if implying that the grandfather fathered a child with his own daughter. That is sacrilege,” Ndayishimiye said.
The president also stressed the need to codify traditional practices into law to prevent abuses. “We have seen people take advantage of the fact that certain things are not explicitly written in the law to oppress others,” he added, calling on the Ministry of Justice to address such legal gaps.
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