Human Rights
Join Us We Need Your Help
For nearly two decades, Northern Uganda has been ravaged by conflict. Thousands of civilians have been subjected to brutal attacks and sexual violence, including rape, torture and the destruction of homes and communities. In recent years, there has been some movement toward justice for victims of these atrocities, but the progress has been slow and hampered by continued violence. In Uganda, victims of domestic violence in particular, as well as the police and the courts, face numerous challenges in responding effectively to the crisis of such conflict. The problems are aggravated by an overwhelming culture of silence, poor parliamentary oversight and difficulties in holding the police accountable for their shortcomings. Abuse is not the domain of the least privileged in society, it cuts across tribe, socio-economic status and region, affecting women throughout the country: rich and poor, educated and illiterate. Domestic abuse takes place within
a larger context of gender-based oppression, and in Uganda, it represents part of a problem of the lack of gender equality and equal rights under the law. This is perhaps the most widely spread and socially tolerated form of human rights abuse around the world and in Uganda is a result of a patriarchal society where social norms and gender expectations create attitudes of acceptance around domestic violence. The field of preventing violence against women and girls is rapidly growing and providing opportunities for addressing a widely tolerated injustice. However, there is a need to establish the most effective interventions in order to challenge the underlying beliefs that define the range of acceptable male and female behavior while breaking the acceptance of violence against women and girls in public and private life.