'Hunger fueling transactional sex among university students'
“Feeding and menstrual dignity are not welfare extras. They are HIV&AIDS prevention measures," said Ainembabazi.
'Hunger fueling transactional sex among university students'
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The Ugandan government has been urged to urgently address hunger among students in institutions of higher learning.
Uganda National Students Association (UNSA) president Shillah Ainembabazi made the call on Monday (October 19) while interacting with members of Parliament's HIV&AIDS committee.
She told the lawmakers, led by committee chair Stephen Kisa, that desperation for food possibly pushes some students into transactional sex, exposing them to the risk of contracting HIV and other related infections.
The student leader cited data from the 2015 “Violence against children survey”, which revealed that young women aged 18 to 24 years, who had engaged in transactional sex, had 5.9 times higher odds of having multiple sexual partners and 5.2 times higher odds of infrequent condom use in the previous year.
“Feeding and menstrual dignity are not welfare extras. They are HIV&AIDS prevention measures," said Ainembabazi.
"A girl who has a meal, pad and reason to stay in school is less likely to be pushed into a relationship she did not choose.
"Non-resident students [living off campus] receive sh800,000 per semester. There is no way you can utilise this amount when you are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. Another problem is that, for example, at Makerere University, things like food are overpriced."
The UNSA president said condoms, used as a protective measure among sexual partners, can be placed in student hostels, for instance in washrooms, for easier or more convenient access.
“I was at Kyambogo University, we were having a symposium about HIV&AIDS awareness. They said they have those Government condoms which, for example, they put in the sick bay. But students fear going there to ask for them because of the stigma."
She said students are also hesitant to spend their money on condoms.
“It becomes very expensive for a person who has not eaten lunch to go and buy those condoms in clinics."
What officials say
“Recently, I interfaced with Uganda Education Students Association from universities. What they were sharing is exactly what she is putting here. This is the plain truth in our education institutions," said Baguma.
"They even revealed that one of the students died of hunger. I was still doubting, but the same issue is being reported here. We have students in universities who go without a meal for three to four days."
He added that a dialogue is necessary to establish the magnitude of the problem at hand.
“This age bracket (18 to 24 years) is mainly in tertiary institutions. Actually, it is also not uncommon to find this age in Primary Four. Aged 15, 16 and 18 in primary four, five, six and seven. When they reach these classes at 16, 17 and 18 years, they are disinterested. They drop out and, particularly boys, become now ‘terrorists engineering early pregnancies.
"Of course, where somebody is able to get pregnant early, the possibility of this person acquiring HIV is very high,” said the UNATU secretary general.
On his part, NAMUDEO-U's Obiayi called for funding to raise HIV&AIDS awareness, prevention, treatment, care and support in education institutions.
“Many of the initiatives that are well-intentioned and brought to the sector to combat HIV&AIDS have been based on donor funding. They are like a project approach, and therefore when a project closes, everything closes,” he said.