The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers

On the International Day of the Girl Child, lawyers at FIDA Uganda’s Legal Aid Clinic are, as usual, busy attending to clients. One of the clients at the clinic is a 15 year old girl, who left her village and came to Kampala in search of a job. She found a job as a domestic worker. Her employer raped her. When she reported the rape at a police station, she was told there was no evidence of penetration, and her case was dismissed. Read the rest of this entry »

The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda) is still against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009). Today, FIDA Uganda has released an official press statement in opposition to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Read the rest of this entry »

Did Dominique Strauss Kahn really sexually assault Nafissatou Diallo, or was Nafissatou Diallo just looking for fame? Read the rest of this entry »

FIDA Uganda recently launched a series titled “Don’t Suffer in Silence” as part of a campaign against domestic violence.  Domestic violence is typically hidden in the private domain where it is kept as a shameful secret, forcing victims to suffer in silence. The “Don’t Suffer in Silence” series seeks to extract the topic of domestic violence from the secrecy of homes by influencing the conscience of the public towards taking responsibility for the reality of domestic violence.

 

In the “Don’t Suffer in Silence” series, four members of a family that had been suffering in silence were given the opportunity to speak out against domestic violence; a victimized wife, a traumatized child, a frustrated husband, and a saddened grandfather. Each family member’s voice illustrates how domestic violence affects entire families; wives, husbands, children, and grandparents, as well as entire communities; schools, workplaces, neighborhoods. In the series, a lawyer from FIDA Uganda also describes her experiences with the domestic violence cases she has handled while working at FIDA Uganda. The “Don’t Suffer in Silence” series is designed to challenge mindsets, influence public discourse on the topic of domestic violence, and offer hope to those who have been silently trapped by domestic violence.

 

The series presents a more sober approach to the topic of domestic violence, which has often been treated lightly by Ugandan media. The “Don’t Suffer in Silence” series has been screened on television in Uganda, and the audio version of the series has been aired on radio in Uganda. Both the television and radio campaigns have already began generating candid discussions on domestic violence among members of the public; which is one of the desired effects of the campaign.

 

The closed-captioned videos are available on FIDA Uganda’s YouTube channel, in high definition.

The videos may also be viewed below, together with their transcripts.

 

• A victimized wife speaks out

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

I can control a classroom of naughty youngsters.

I can manage my teacher’s salary and juggle my small businesses to meet my family needs.

I am a respected member of my community, and many people turn to me for advice to solve their problems.

But the truth is, I am failing in my home.

I’ve been married for ten years.

But I have only one precious daughter.

My husband blames me for the three miscarriages I’ve had… all boys.

I feel humiliated and guilty when he beats me in front of our girl.

I want to be a valued wife and mother.

 

 

• A traumatized child speaks out

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

I’m ten years old, but I still wet my bed.

It’s so embarrassing. It got worse when my dad started beating up my mom.

Once, she couldn’t go to work because she cracked her rib when she fell against the kitchen table.

The worst is going back to school, because I fear leaving my mom alone.

Also, I hate school because the girls bully me and call me ‘smelly mattress’.

Only my mom understands me, but even she gets annoyed when I don’t do well in class.

My dad just ignores me.

I worry that when I return home for holidays, I won’t find her there.

I don’t want to be scared anymore.

 

• A frustrated husband speaks out

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

I was proud that my wife had a job, and her own thriving small business.

She never asked me for money for extra needs.

Now I’ve lost my job, and it’s me asking for money.

I can’t even afford the taxi fare to go to town and look for work.

I feel so ashamed.

The first time I hit her, I hadn’t returned home for a week.

I had been drinking with my friends, and the look she gave me made me furious.

Her brother is angry with me.

He used to be my friend.

But now he says the next time it happens, he’s reporting me to the police.

And the worst part is that I can’t control myself in front of our daughter.

I want my family to respect me, not fear me.

 

• A saddened grandfather speaks out

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

My eldest son has always had a temper.

But I never expected him to beat up his wife.

We’d waited a long time for him to settle down.

Then Sanyu came into his life.

She brought us joy, especially after my granddaughter was born.

But, things changed when her businesses took off and she started coming home late.

My son was jealous and a row ended up in the first serious beating.

But, I never taught him to be violent.

Always told him to be respectful towards women, the way I am with his mother.

Now my daughter in law has threatened to go to the police the next time it happens.

This will bring shame on me, and my unmarried sons will be labeled potential wife-beaters.

I want a peaceful family.

 

• A FIDA Uganda lawyer speaks out

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

When I started my job at FIDA, I was surprised about how common domestic violence is.

Imagine… it’s happening across all social backgrounds.

You probably know someone who is hiding this secret shame.

The concern of the men and women coming to see me is how they can keep the problem out of the courts.

At FIDA, we believe that counseling and expert legal advice is the best way to confront the cancer of domestic violence destroying so many homes.

I want to help you lift the sadness in your home.

 

 

 

FIDA Uganda wishes to thank the Austrian Development Cooperation for making the “Don’t Suffer in Silence” series possible. FIDA Uganda also wishes to thank UN WOMEN under the UN Joint Program on Gender Based Violence supported by the Government of Norway for making it possible to screen the series on television in Uganda.

 

Your comments and feedback on the “Don’t Suffer in Silence” campaign are most welcome.

Abortion remains one of the most controversial issues in public debate arenas, for good reason. It is controversial for both obvious and not so obvious reasons; some shudder at the thought of the bloody waste products of an abortion, others fear the wrath of their god and the divine havoc their god might wreak on their entire nation in response to relaxed laws on abortion, others frown at the notion that women should have full control over their bodies, others imagine the grandchildren who might never take their first breath because of abortion. However, the controversy surrounding abortion continues to contribute to maternal mortality. The controversy has fostered a culture of dehumanizing stigma towards those considering abortion, and it has facilitated the spread of lethal misinformation on abortion. Read the rest of this entry »

K, in an act of passion - cut off the penis of a man who she found defiling her ten year old daughter. K was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm. Unbelievably M: the defiler was not arrested. Upon investigation by FIDA Uganda it was discovered that M already had 2 pending complaints against him at the local Police. Read the rest of this entry »

A heart-wrenching story about a young victim of incest and how FIDA Uganda assisted her... Read the rest of this entry »