Tagged as: gender justice

Girls fleeing from FGM in Uganda are directed to Safety

Uganda, Kampala – “With no safe houses- schools, girls will be genitally mutilated,” said 21- year old Ruth Chelangat a community mobiliser, who mobilizes girls against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kwosir sub county in Kween district of Uganda’s largely rural Sebei region.

“You can’t receive protection in the neighborhood during the cutting season,” she stated.

In areas of Uganda where FGM is performed, the “cutting season” usually coincides with school holidays, as it is this year. FGM, which includes damaging or modifying the female genitalia for non-medical reasons, can have a variety of severe health repercussions for girls who are exposed to it, including pain, infections, hemorrhaging, and death.

But when Betty Cheboi, was 22 years old, she implored her parents not to have her cut. They didn’t listen, and she had no safe place to run to. She nearly bled to death from her wounds.

Afterwards, she made her close relatives promise not to cut her younger sisters. For Cheboi, it was the beginning of a lifetime of activism to end FGM.

After receiving training from the Right Here, Right Now II (RHRN II) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), several youth teams in the Karamoja and Sebei regions are spreading the word that girls can find refuge at the safe houses operated in Amudat and Kween districts through, school programs, young people’s safe spaces at health centers, and community outreach.

“this is part of our effort to change negative values, norms and rituals abusing the enjoyment of sexual reproductive health and rights, in addition to young people’s gender justice,” Cheboi said.

However, according to Joseph Cheptegei, Kwosir sub-county Community Development Officer, when a cry for aid comes in, whether from a girl at risk or a concerned community member, identifying the girl can be difficult. This is due to the geography in the Sebei area, extensive unmapped land in Karamoja, and a lack of connectivity, with settlements of up to 5,000 people without plots and never appearing on Google maps.

“We are coming together to widen our network to unite people against FGM from across the Karamoja and Sebei regions,” said Cheptegei.

RHRN II, UNFPA through Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), has organized the volunteer network’s efforts to teach young people so that activists on the ground can better protect girls since 2016.

Samuel Musani, RHRN II officer in Sebei region says that trained volunteer mobilisers, peer educators and young advocates comb through villages of rural Sebei and Karamoja regions, tracing for girls at risk or threat of FGM. They are then referred to safe houses and schools constructed by Action Aid – Uganda, Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development (MGLSD).

RHU works with government and other private partners like Reach a Hand Uganda (RAHU), Action Aid and Kapchorwa Civil Society Association.

During the 2021, over 2,000 volunteers in over 60 sub counties were trained under the RHRN II and UNFPA programmes by RHU and its partners.

As more and more communities abandon FGM, programming needs to zero in on remaining hotspots, noted Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director.

When the cutting season is complete, most girls return home after two months. Volunteers, community social welfare personnel, and specially trained police engage with families and communities to alter attitudes, a step toward changing the societal norms that maintain FGM.

“We talk to parents,” said Chebot. “We show them that FGM has effects and is illegal in Uganda.”

Girls can return home if their parents promise to honor their requests not to be cut off and to help them in continuing their education. Every three months, the program does a check-in with the girls.

Girls whose families refuse to reconcile are housed in safe houses, where they get therapy and continue their education. Chebot, on the other hand, does not give up attempting to persuade their families to alter their beliefs.

“We are not stopping,” she said. “We keep visiting those families, talking to them so we can have reconciliation.”

While officiating the anti FGM day celebrations in Kapchorwa, on 20th April 2022, Uganda’s State Minister for Gender and Culture Peace Regis Mutuuzo, pledged that the 2010 anti FGM law will be revised to curb the new trends, that aid FGM to be done in countries neighboring Uganda.

Aldon Walukamba G, the author, is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator.

Ugandan Youths Serve as Gender Justice and SRHR Advocates

There is hope that gender justice, sexual reproductive health, and rights (SRHR) initiatives in Uganda will enjoy wider acceptance by having young people act as “envoys.”

The youths in the Rwenzori region of Uganda are taking the lead in this by forming groups and preaching the SRHR and gender justice gospel, rehabilitating school dropouts and drug and alcohol abusers, mostly aged between 10 and 24 years.

Mary Karungi, 22, of Kaguma village, received training in sensitizing and mobilizing young people about their sexuality, reproductive health rights, and how to avoid emergency situations caused by unplanned sex encounters.

This was after several young people in her village, some of whom were under the age of 18, became pregnant, married, and dropped out of school.

She believes that the time has come for young people to take the lead in educating others about the dangers of unplanned sex, pregnancy, and marriage.

“We are doing some work in the villages, we talk to young people about body changes and how to act when they manifest, use family planning for those who are sexually active, and also demystify the negative norms and values that encourage teenage pregnancy and early marriages,” Karungi said.

In the last three months, Karungi has reached out to 86 young people in her village.

Rachael Mbonabana, Kicwamba Health Youth Development Group Chairperson in Kabarole district, says more than 800 young people have been approached by their group of 12 members. They go to schools, churches, mosques, playgrounds, and other communal gatherings with a message about positive living by empowering youths to claim their SRHR and gender justice. They also offer free condom distribution, sexuality education, and other messages promoting positive gender equality norms and values.

But Hassan Sebugwaawo, a Right Here Right Now-2 coalition (RHRN-2) project officer for Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) in the Rwenzori region, says 144 young people in 12 groups of 12 young people each were empowered to saturate the gospel of gender justice, equality, and SRHR among young people.

Youth of Destiny is another young people’s group in Fort Portal City, Kabarole district, making strides towards emancipating young people about their SRHR and gender equality positive norms and values.

Brain Murungi, a spokesperson for Youth of Destiny, said they have rehabilitated a formerly 12-year-old girl who had been married off during the COVID-19 lockdown and a former school dropout, a boy. The two are now studying at Mukungwe primary school. The girl enrolled in family planning because she is sexually active.

Claire Kagaaju, a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) Chairperson embraces SRHR and Gender justice training for young people that is accelerating the spread of SRHR and gender equality messages in a more diversified manner among young people in Tooro region.

Dr. Peter Ibembe, (RHU), Director of Programs, grins with optimism that when more skills are continually imparted to youths regarding gender justice and SRHR, several young people will avoid early sex, pregnancy, and marriage and live a better and more meaningful life. The youths are trained in positioning themselves in various working groups in the public and private sector to push for access to SRHR, gender justice, and family planning methods, including the use of contraceptives.

Jackson Chekweko, RHU Executive Director, believes young people should continue to receive training from SRHR and gender justice professionals on communication, resource mobilization, and advocacy techniques. The youth envoys will then use these skills to lead discussions among local, religious, and cultural leaders to change bad norms and values affecting gender equality, SRHR, and justice.

“Emphasis to the youths is geared towards firming up civil society, so we work in coalition, to have the participation of not only youths, but also religious leaders and community leaders to push acceptance that takes into account the social, cultural, and religious contexts and work with an understanding of that to develop programs and activities even in rural areas of the country,” said Jackson Chekweko.

The RHRN-2 coalition comprises seven members including Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), SRHR Alliance, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Hope Mbale, CEHURD, Reach a Hand Uganda (RAHU), and UNYPA.

Aldon Walukamba G, the author, is the RHU Media Advocacy and Documentation Coordinator.