VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN THE FAMILY SETTING
Globally, family is regarded as an important institution because it is the first unit of support into which all people are born. The Constitution of Uganda recognizes the family as the normal and legitimate organizing unit of society. Objective XIX of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy spells that the family is the natural and basic unit if society and is entitled to protection by the society and the state.
Families therefore serve an important mechanism for organizing social relationships by conferring certain rights and privileges and imposing duties. It organizes caregiving plus economic and other welfare to its members. It also provides refuge and a source of protection from conflict.
However, it is also through family that children both boys and girls and women suffer from violence. This violence takes the form of physical abuse which involves bodily contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering, sexual violence, where the victim is abused sexually through rape, defilement, sodomy, economic violence, emotional abuse among others.
It is evident that violence among continues to manifest despite it being illegal in most jurisdictions. Such violence is often legitimized and accompanied by culture of silence and impunity. Thus whereas family plays a key social role for the wellbeing and organization of society and are idealized as places of refuge and safety, they are also sites for abuse and injustice.
Violence can thus be related to a number of fundamental rights and freedom abuse. The UN CEDAW Committee stated in its General Recommendation 19 that violence against women and children constitutes a violation of their rights internationally and urges state parties to which Uganda is signatory to take measures to prevent gender-based violence.
Violence against children and women is also a violation of the right to life enshrined under article 22 of the 1995 Constitution, the right to enjoy the highest attainable state of physical and mental health, the right to integrity.
Violence against children and women can also lead to the commission of criminal offences punishable by the courts of law. These offences include, torture, the offence of rape, the offence of defilement, assault and battery, threatening violence among others. She observed that under the Annual Crime Report of 2022, 12580 defilement cases were reported. 8960 cases for aggravated defilement, 3620 cases for simple defilement.
According to the Annual Police Report of 2022, 17698 cases of domestic violence were reported, 13489 child related cases, 8960 cases for defilement, 10,345 cases for threatening violence and 32041 cases of assault.
It is suffice to note that a trivial number of cases of violence against women and children are reported for fear to be thrown of home and other related consequences. Therefore, a lot needs to be done in the fight against violence against girls and women for the realization of equal rights, privilege as well as enabling young girls to successfully achieve their ultimate dreams.
What we do
At joy for children Uganda we have engaged in community sensitizations to provide people in Lango sub region in Northern Uganda on prevention and response to violence against women and children, we have also established community response teams(male champions and grievance management committees) to provide support in cases of gender-based violence at the local level. The attitudes which perpetuate gender violence is developed during the socialization process, schools and the education system as institutions of socialization, have been specifically targeted in our sensitization programs.
