Uganda gender laws gain support

At the beginning of November, the Uganda Law Reform Commission brought a new set of proposed gender-related laws before the Ugandan Parliament for debate in response to increased pressure from civil society groups. If passed, the proposed bills would alter laws concerning marriage and divorce, domestic violence, and female circumcision. Uganda has a diverse society. The draft Marriage and Divorce Bill aims to consolidate laws pertaining to all forms of marriage recognized in Uganda: religious, civil and customary. The new law would ensure both partners fair access to matrimonial wealth during and after marriage, make marital rape illegal, and ban bride price, a practice that demands the husband pays the bride’s family to marry her. According to statistics from the Uganda Law and Reform Commission, 78 per cent of women have experienced some form of domestic abuse. The Domestic Relations Bill would protect women in the private sphere through enforcing the punishment of perpetrators of domestic violence and providing guidelines for courts to follow with regards the protection and compensation of victims of domestic violence. The aim of the Female Genital Mutilation Bill is to criminalise female circumcision, which in Uganda involves the removal of the clitoris and scraping of the genital area. The World Health Organisation published a report in 2006 explaining the harmful effects of female circumcision. Many girls bleed to death or die from diseases such as tetanus contracted during or after the operation and risks related to childbirth are increased. The practice is still carried out by the Sabiny, Sebei, and Pokot tribes in eastern Uganda, usually on girls between the ages of 14 and 16. The bill suggests up to 10 years imprisonment for surgeons or parents who promote the practice. *Rights versus tradition* The case of Ms Mary Agote, reported in a study conducted by Uganda Land Alliance and Action Aid, is an example of how customary law weighs strongly in favour of the husband. Ms Agote married at the age of 16 years old and her husband paid five heads of cattle to her family in order to marry her. She contributed financially by working on other people’s land for income and making improvements to the house. Several years later, her husband married a second wife and stopped supporting her. After a conflict, the second wife accused Ms Agote of trying to bewitch her husband, and she was beaten by her former husband until she required hospitalisation. After recovery, she was not allowed to return to the family home and her husband denied her custody of their children and gave her no share of their marital wealth. Ms Agote has reported him to the district probation officer, but he is a former classmate of her husband, so no action was taken. Customary law is the most commonly practised form of law in Uganda, and according to it, women may not own property nor retain custody of their children after divorce and are not entitled to any share of the marital wealth during or after marriage. Bride price is a custom which has traditionally been seen as a commitment on the part of the husband to his new wife. Opponents view it as the “buying” of a wife, who is then “owned” by her husband. A workshop was held in early October by the Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association (UWOPA), a women’s rights group, to open the debate surrounding the new gender laws. The workshop was attended by 230 male legislators and response to the new laws was initially resistant. MP Simon Oyet said at the workshop, “A husband in the home is head of the family. You must know your husband is more equal than you.” MP Otto Odongo expressed his views on wife-beating, “In my culture if a husband spends a while without beating you, then you better think twice because wife beating is a sign of love.” Women’s rights activists argue that these cultural attitudes undermine the internationally agreed upon rights of dignity and equality to which all women are entitled. Opposition to the Marriage and Divorce Bill has also come from religious leaders. The Catholic Church in Uganda condemns the bill as decreasing the role of religion in marriage, giving more importance to material wealth and land. Sheik Hassan Kirya also voiced resistance to the draft Marriage and Divorce Bill to The Monitor newspaper, suggesting that Islamic law will continue to take precedence over civil law, regardless of whether the bill is passed: "As for the new changes, we, the Muslims, are not concerned because marriage is part of worship and therefore it has its own rules.” *Rite of passage or denial of rights?* Ms Gertrude Chebet recounted to IPS News the day she took part in a ceremony to mark her transition into womanhood. Since she was a child, she had been taught that the ritual would be a great moment in her life and she went with anticipation to the ceremony. “One of the elder women overseeing the circumcision took a sample of our saliva, urine and pubic hair and buried it. She then ordered us to lie on the ground, and after the first cut, I lost consciousness and cannot remember what happened next.” Now Ms Chebet is a primary school teacher and chairs the Kapchorwa/Bukwo Women in Peace Initiative, a group that campaigns to abolish female circumcision. She describes the act as cruel and inhuman. In traditional Ugandan culture, if a woman is not circumcised, she is not considered mature. It is a rite of passage into womanhood and considered a prerequisite for marriage. Girls and their families are fearful of the cultural repercussions of not being circumcised. Many feminists oppose the ritual, arguing that female circumcision is used as a way to control women in order to prevent pre-marital sex and adultery, both of which might bring shame upon the family. The harmful health effects of the practice are often subjugated to the cultural necessity of being circumcised. Ms Rebecca Kadaga, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, reported on the New Vision website, counters these cultural attitudes: “Culture is meant to unify us and instill pride in us. Female genital mutitlation, on the other hand, is cruel. It strips women of their fundamental rights and exposes them to gross health problems.” Despite the government’s willingness to sign numerous agreements regarding women’s rights, including the Maputo Protocol, which upholds a woman’s right to not be circumcised, and President Yoweri Museveni’s condemnation of the practice earlier this year, no ban on female circumcision has been implemented. In regions such as Kapchorwa and Bukwo, President Museveni has gained support because his government has not interfered with traditional cultural practices. A change in law could signal a loss of needed votes for the President. The issue of female circumcision also has repercussions for the representation of women in the political arena. The Ugandan government is fairly well represented, with 24 per cent of MPs being women. This has been achieved through affirmative action; each district has a “woman seat.” Yet, in areas where female circumcision is widespread, it is difficult for those wanting to ban to the practice to get elected. Ms Jane Frances Kuka, former gender minister and former “woman” MP for Kapchorwa district, told IPS News that male politicians use female circumcision and traditional patriarchal culture against female politicians. “My opponents used my stand against female genital mutilation as a weapon against me. Elders were saying who is this [woman] to interfere with our culture?” Women can stand against men in elections for the main constituencies, which are the decision-making seats in parliament, but cultural attitudes towards women often prevent women with a pro-women’s rights stance from winning the more influential seats. *Evolving a new context from the top down* The Ugandan Constitution, drawn up in 1995, is noted as being advanced in terms of gender compared to other African nations. The Constitution includes articles which provide for equal treatment in all spheres of life regardless of sex, entitles women and men to equal rights during and after marriage, and prohibits “laws, cultures and traditions, which are against the dignity, welfare or interest of women and undermine their status.” However, reform of laws to match the constitution has been slow. Only two laws have so far been revised. While a Ministry of Women in Development was established in 1988, it is under-funded and its scope of work has increasingly grown over the years to include labour and social development. The Ministry did manage to establish a National Gender Policy in 1997, which provided a framework to be incorporated into policy by all government ministries. This incorporation was never achieved and when decentralization of government occurred, no specific gender officers were appointed, meaning the National Gender Policy had no means to implement its frameworks, leaving communities untouched by official policy. IPS news reported that Dr Baryomunsi, MP for Kinkizi East and a leading proponent for the new gender laws, said at the UWOPA conference convincing legislators is the first step towards changing cultural attitudes in the community. The support of male legislators is not only necessary to get the laws passed as men are still the majority in parliament, said Dr Baryomunsi, but will fare much better in the public domain if presented by men. “When we present this law [as one that is] good for us the leaders, the men in the community will definitely accept and know that it is good for them.” At the workshop, there was agreement among the male MPs that they wanted to be involved as partners in gender issues if the women involved them. Dr. Baryomunsi explains that working together reduces men’s fear that their power is being taken away from them. Ms Rukia Nakadama, a culture minister, recently expressed the government’s commitment to the passing of the Female Genital Mutilation Bill and to changing cultural attitudes in the community towards the Practice. If the laws are passed, government commitment must be translated into changes in institutions entrusted to enforce the new laws. The prosecution of domestic crimes committed against women in Uganda are rarely completed. Recently, district police commander James Peter Aurien, confessed to murdering his wife but was not charged. Outraged human rights groups protested until he was finally prosecuted. The Domestic Relations Bill outlines guidelines for the court to follow in cases of domestic abuse. Guidelines and training for law enforcement bodies must also be developed to ensure that the new laws are implemented at the community level. *Changes at the community level* The passing of the laws, however, would only be the first step in a complex transformation that would need to be fostered at community level. Dr. Baryomunsi added: “A law in itself is not the final solution. You can have a law, but also continue with interventions on the ground which will interrogate the culture, tradition, and societal behaviour to ensure that people continue to be mobilised.” Only through encouraging a cultural shift of this kind will civil law affect religious and customary law. Male involvement at the household level would lead to better communication between spouses, and joint decision-making within households. At the UWOPA workshop MP Betty Kamya urged women to sensitise their sons to the rights of women early. “We need to begin with the way we raise our children. We should raise our boys to respect women. This should be done in the main school curriculum. The way women choose to bring up their sons is the way these sons will behave when they are adults.” Ms Kamya also highlighted the need for the education of girls. Education would also allow girls to refuse to undergo female circumcision. As Ms Chebet’s story shows, girls are unaware about what female circumcision actually entails and the risks involved, making it impossible for girls to make informed decisions about their bodies and lives. NGOs have worked at grassroots level to educate women about their rights and to economically empower women through income generation projects, such as the teaching of handicrafts. Educated women who can financially support themselves are in a better position to leave an abusive relationship. Ms Kamya added: “We should put a lot of emphasis on broadening options for women. The reason that women get trapped is because they do not have options. If a girl child gets a good education, she can stand up against violence.” Shelters and counseling services for women suffering domestic abuse are needed to provide safety and education for those who do not yet have the tools necessary to support themselves. *The role of the global community* Recently The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have started a programme to eradicate female circumcision by 2012. An event was held at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala to mark the start of the new initiative, which is to be implemented regionally by 17 nations. Uganda will receive some of the $4 million funding from the programme. The programme, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, will initially target Kapchorwa, Nakapiripirit, Moroto and Bukwo districts. East African Legislative Assembly MP Dorah Byamukama said to The New Vision that the support is critical because it will help fast track the Female Genital Mutilation Bill. However, some see the investment of Western funds to speed up the eradication of female circumcision as an attempt to impose Western values on Ugandan society. Ms Patricia Cunningham, from the women’s rights group Somali Women of Today (SWOT), warned of a possible backlash if the sovereignty of African nations is not respected and called for greater understanding of the practice, not outright oppression. The Anti-homosexuality Bill, which is also being debated in the Ugandan parliament during November, is gaining much backing. One of the main arguments being voiced in favour of criminalization is that homosexuality is a Western import that is polluting Ugandan culture. Intervention from outside must be welcomed and not just because of money given to the government. Change must come from the will of the Ugandan people – both male and female – to secure the rights of women at the level of the household, where real changes in the way men and women relate are manifested. Opening up the debate in parliament is a necessary step towards bringing into the open information that has in the past kept women from empowering themselves. 15

2009-11-26T00:54:53Z

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2009-11-26T00:54:51Z

uganda-gender-laws-gain-support

Garrett Ziegler

Three women walking in Kisoro, Uganda.

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Uganda gender laws gain support

2009-12-21T21:11:52Z