Manila - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is urging men to stop physically abusing their wives, in official remarks on Thursday while marking International Women's Day.
Domestic violence is common across in Uganda, although victims rarely report perpetrators to the police for fear of being stigmatised or thrown out of their homes.
"If you want to fight, why don't you look for a fellow man and fight?" Museveni said, calling domestic abusers cowards.
Museveni said lifting women up economically, through education and entrepreneurship, can help bring an end to rampant domestic violence.
He said: "If the girls are not economically empowered, they will remain vulnerable to these bully men."
