The Constitution of Uganda under Article 21 stipulates: ‘All persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social, and cultural life and in every other respect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law.’
It further states that a person shall not be discriminated against on the ground of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, social or economic standing, political opinion or disability. However, despite these clearly expressed regulations, women and girls in the country are still rampantly discriminated against. This discrimination starts right from the smallest unit of society, the family, with parents prioritising educating sons at the expense of their daughters.
Parents, especially in rural areas, pull out all the stops to ensure that their sons are educated but little is done to ensure girls stay in school, with many married off under the pretext that there is no money to keep them in schools. Greed for bribe price usually plays a key role in this decision, with parents and other relatives of girls viewing them as a source of wealth.
Harmful cultural norms perpetuated by our patrilineal communities also deny women the right to inherit their parents’ properties. On the demise of their parents, the properties are taken over by their brothers and other male relatives, leaving them with nothing. In the same vein, women are robbed of properties that, by law, they are entitled to inherit after the death of their husbands.
This injustice renders widows virtually unable to care for their children. In many cases, these greedy, heartless in-laws collude with unscrupulous security personnel, clan elders, local council officials, and district leaders. When it comes to employment, some companies and organisations do not provide maternity leave for women, meaning pregnancy and childbirth lead to automatic job losses. Sexual harassment is also rife in workplaces, with women getting little or no protection at all from the culprits. In many cases culprits get a mere slap on the wrist. Violence against women, especially from intimate partners is widespread, with some misguided men falsely thinking they are within their rights to beat their wives.
Sadly, some ill-informed women think this mistreatment is justified under some circumstances. Some progress has been made in women emancipation, with a number of women appointed to key government jobs and others holding senior positions in private companies and NGOs. However, it is disheartening that few of these women use their positions to fight for the rights of fellow women.
We therefore call upon women who have made it to the top to give other women who are still struggling to climb the hill a helping hand. Government and parents must do more to ensure that women are educated to enable them rise to their full potential. Women’s property rights must also be upheld and domestic violence combated. It is incumbent upon the government to ensure that labour laws are followed to make places of work conducive for women. Women, just like men, have rights that should be upheld to enable them thrive.