User:Hebertvictoria/sandbox

In the Freedom in the World 2020 report, Freedom House identified Uganda as a country considered to be "Not Free". There are several areas of concern when it comes to human rights in Uganda, and the "Not Free" classification is due to both low political rights and civil liberties rankings.

Women's Rights

Ugandan officials ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) July 22, 1985. Countries that chose to ratify CEDAW had one year to submit a formal report to the

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Convention, and they are required to file one every four years after the first report. The Ugandan government, however, submitted its formal CEDAW report 5 years after ratification, in 1990. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) mandates that signatories abolish discrimination against women and implement policies that further women's equal rights. Article 21 of the Constitution of Uganda, follows CEDAW policies, securing the right to equality for all people in the political, economic, and social spheres of Uganda. The article further asserts that no person shall experience discrimination because of their sex, race, ethnicity, disability, tribe, religion, socio-economic standing, or political affiliation.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, as of 2017, Uganda had not reported its CEDAW implementation status since 2010. Uganda has not ratified the optional Convention protocol. This optional protocol enables CEDAW committees to receive and process complaints made by signatory constituents about violations of rights guaranteed by CEDAW. That being said, the Varieties of Democracy public survey data regarding women's civil liberties in Uganda - an aggregation of the data of freedom of domestic movement, from forced labor, of property rights, and access to justice - shows that between the years 1986 and 2019, the Uganda public believed the majority of women in the country receive a medium to high level of these liberties.

Property Rights

Women in Uganda have been champions of equal property rights for women, pastoralists, and various other marginalized groups. Women have also actively participated in organizations (i.e. The Uganda Land Alliance, The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers) who are actively fighting for marginalized communities' rights and who are questioning Ugandan customary land tenure as well. It is important to note that customary rules hold much significance in Ugandan society, especially in regard to land tenure and property rights.

Uganda has experienced several land reforms over the years, with a significant reform being the 1998 Land Act. Under the Land Act, women are granted equal rights to land in Uganda, allowing them to own land primarily through their fathers, brothers, or husbands. The Land Act prohibits all decisions related to property that result in the refusal of land rights to women. Furthermore, the 1995 Constitution of Uganda also prohibits gender-based discrimination, granting men and women equal rights. Although the Land Act and various land-rights systems grant women land ownership, there is evidence that these measures do not always properly secure women's property rights in terms of access and management of the land. One reason for this being customary law in Uganda and the tendency to award women fewer rights to property than men.

During the 1998 Land Act creation, it was proposed that the government would mandate joint ownership of the land by spouses, but the proposal was not enacted. This act has resulted in the affordance of equal rights to land not necessitating legal co-ownership of the property. For example, reports consider married couples to be co-owners of the land, solely the men of the households are predominantly listed in the ownership documents. The official name, or title, on the ownership documents affects women's true land rights. The Land Act also does not consider customary law procedures, especially in regard to widows' acquisition of their late husband's land. That is to say, women typically do not inherit land from their husband as it is a tradition for men to leave their land to their tribe, not their widow. This trend is a result of attempts to ensure that land remains within the tribe, without risking that women may sell the land to individuals outside of the tribe. Hence, women may have co-ownership of land with her husband, but without secure property rights, a widow may be denied the land of her late-husband.

Women have enacted strategies in order to make claims on land and to legally own property themselves, despite some customary laws awarding them fewer property rights. In fact, women are increasingly using formal legal systems, like magistrate courts, to gain formal access to land. Furthermore, women have also achieved ownership of land through purchasing it themselves, which is a way to circumnavigate co-ownership issues. It is important to note that according to Varieties of Democracy, public opinion surveys show that Ugandans believe that since 1994, several women have private property rights with a minority of the female population enjoying little to no property rights. Additionally, public opinion data illustrates that between the years 1995 and 2017, at least half of the women have most of the available property rights in the country.

Rights in Marriage

The Constitution of Uganda provides clarity on the issue of family rights and issues 14 recommendations on these rights in its text. Under the Constitution of Uganda, the legal marriage age for both men in women is 18 years old. However, there is strong evidence of girls in Uganda quitting school to become a child bride. In 2017, Uganda faced one of the highest rates of early marriage globally. It was reported that 40% of girls in Uganda marry prior to turning 18. In 2017, before 15 years old, 10% of Ugandan girls were married.

During the creation of the Ugandan Constitution, the cultural practice of bride price was often debated, with the Constituent Assembly ruling against its abolition. Bride price is legal in Uganda and is the traditional act of the groom paying for his bride with money, cattle, or goods. In 2007, a non-governmental organization brought the issue of bride price to the Constitutional Court citing concerns about the constitutionality of the custom, but the court held the legality of the practice. In 2015, though, the Ugandan Supreme Court ruled it illegal for a groom to ask for a refund of the bride price in the case of the dissolution of marriage.

The Constitution further states that men and women are entitled to equal rights at all stages of the marriage, even during the dissolution of the marriage. Section 4 of the Divorce act stated that in order to successfully apply for the dissolution of a marriage through the courts, a husband had to demonstrate one ground (i.e. adultery) to the court. In order to petition for divorce, a wife had to prove at least two circumstances (i.e. change of religious affiliation, taking another wife, incestuous or bigamous adultery) to the court. However, the Association of Women Lawyers took the case to court, petitioning that Section 4 was unconstitutional on the basis on discrimination of sex. The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Association of Women Lawyers, but the legislature in Uganda has not yet amended the Constitution to adhere to the court's ruling.

Sexual Violence

The history of sexual violence in Northern Uganda sees individuals experiencing conflict-period sexual violence between the years 1986-2006. It has been reported that both sides of the insurgency, the Lord's

In August 2015, the leaders of Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan met in Kampala, Uganda to discuss how they document and prosecute sexual violence in their respective countries.

Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), committed acts of sexual and gender based violence. In the displacement camps, there was a high number of gender-based violent acts (i.e. rape, physical assault) performed by LRA and UPDF soldiers but also by family members and acquaintances in the camps as well. During this insurgency period, women are thought to have participated in sexual acts with LRA and UPDF soldiers as a survival technique. Men experiencing conflict-period sexual violence was widespread throughout these years. It was a common military warfare strategy used by state's soldiers against the Acholi people. Sexual violence against men is often used as a tactic to emasculate or feminize the victims.

Uganda has implemented laws and policies in an attempt to protect the victims and survivors of sexual violence. Domestic violence in Uganda, though, is prevalent and on the rise. The 2016 Uganda Police Force's crime report noted that cases investigating gender-based violence in the country rose by 4% from the previous year. According to the 2018 UN Children's Fund report, 35% of Ugandan women aged 18-24 experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. There are also several cases of sexual violence in the country go unreported.

Several laws and policies (i.e. the Penal Code Act 2007, Domestic Violence Act 2010, Sexual Offense Bill, Marriage Bill) in Uganda dealing with violence against women do not include many aspects of sexual violence, such as marital rape or cohabiting partners. For instance, the Domestic Violence Act considers legalized marriage but does not address violence among cohabiting couples.

Uganda has seen some successes in regard to violence against women. Between the years 2011 and 2017, domestic violence deaths decreased by 54%, according to police crime reports. In 2016, a policy called the National Gender Based Violence (GBV) was implemented. This policy details the responsibilities of the various government sectors in stopping and responding to sexual violence. A program through GBV has partnered with United Nations members to improve gender-based violence in the regions of Busoga and Karamoja.