This is one of my opinion articles first published in Daily Monitor, on March 24, 2008
I read with cynicism the President’s speech on Women’s Day where he argued that women should divorce men who are violent against them. Not so much because I believe in violence against women but rather because I feel the President was just speaking to excite his audience.
President Museveni’s government has always touted itself as a champion of women emancipation yet the reality on ground shows otherwise. I wish to debate the issue of gender-based violence from that perspective.
I would also wish to raise the bar of debate by looking at the causes of violence against women rather than confining ourselves to domestic violence. Historically, the Ugandan society is patriarchal.
I am not convinced that the patriarchal culture has changed with Museveni’s ascendancy to power. What we see as women emancipation is tokenism which has left women in the position of inequality. We have very few women for example, who can stand on their own and compete with men.
But also we need to raise the level of debate beyond physical violence to all other forms of violence including psychological, social, economic or otherwise. We must consider problems befalling women holistically.
The evils of corruption, unemployment, poverty, sectarianism among others have dealt a big blow to women. Does the government think that women can be divorced from the rest of the citizens just because they are women?
Is it not true that women in the past 22 years have been relegated to deputy positions: The deputy speaker of Parliament, former Vice President, Deputy Minister of Local Government, among others?
Women in Uganda are crucial just like men. Moreover they constitute the biggest percentage of our population. But the government, apart from capitalising on constitutional provisions for political expediency, has never taken women as serious actors in the political process.
This is the 23rd year of Mr Museveni in power, assuming he left now and the policy of affirmative action was done away with, how many women would ably wrest power from men? And I think continued affirmative action means that it is still a long way to equality.
What happened to the Domestic Relations Bill? Is it not gathering dust on the shelves of either the Cabinet or the President? In my view, the President has himself not been the best example of the champions for women emancipation.
What women need is not eloquent speeches by the President or any of his cadres. Neither do they need affirmative action but commitment to improvement of their lives holistically.
They need drugs in health centres, they need jobs for themselves and their children. They need good roads to market their produce. They need social protection which they can get in form of economic empowerment not only for them but for their children too.
The writer is a human rights activist
0712843552
President Museveni’s government has always touted itself as a champion of women emancipation yet the reality on ground shows otherwise. I wish to debate the issue of gender-based violence from that perspective.
I would also wish to raise the bar of debate by looking at the causes of violence against women rather than confining ourselves to domestic violence. Historically, the Ugandan society is patriarchal.
I am not convinced that the patriarchal culture has changed with Museveni’s ascendancy to power. What we see as women emancipation is tokenism which has left women in the position of inequality. We have very few women for example, who can stand on their own and compete with men.
But also we need to raise the level of debate beyond physical violence to all other forms of violence including psychological, social, economic or otherwise. We must consider problems befalling women holistically.
The evils of corruption, unemployment, poverty, sectarianism among others have dealt a big blow to women. Does the government think that women can be divorced from the rest of the citizens just because they are women?
Is it not true that women in the past 22 years have been relegated to deputy positions: The deputy speaker of Parliament, former Vice President, Deputy Minister of Local Government, among others?
Women in Uganda are crucial just like men. Moreover they constitute the biggest percentage of our population. But the government, apart from capitalising on constitutional provisions for political expediency, has never taken women as serious actors in the political process.
This is the 23rd year of Mr Museveni in power, assuming he left now and the policy of affirmative action was done away with, how many women would ably wrest power from men? And I think continued affirmative action means that it is still a long way to equality.
What happened to the Domestic Relations Bill? Is it not gathering dust on the shelves of either the Cabinet or the President? In my view, the President has himself not been the best example of the champions for women emancipation.
What women need is not eloquent speeches by the President or any of his cadres. Neither do they need affirmative action but commitment to improvement of their lives holistically.
They need drugs in health centres, they need jobs for themselves and their children. They need good roads to market their produce. They need social protection which they can get in form of economic empowerment not only for them but for their children too.
The writer is a human rights activist
0712843552
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