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Regina Kasowole (not her real name), a Senior Two student in Mayuge district, says there is an S3 boy who pursues her a lot around the school compound demanding she becomes his girlfriend.

“My lack of interest has turned into a dilemma for me. The boy waits for me at secluded spots as we walk back home to disturb me; something that makes me lose concentration in class,” she says.

Kasowole says she was disappointed when she told the director of studies about it only for him to request her to put the accusation in writing and then he never did anything.

“I requested my mother to shift me to another school but she refused saying my current school is the one closest to home. I am devastated and really don’t know what to do,” she says.

Another 15-year-old female student from Mayuge is about to be married off to a man old enough to be her father.

“My father says I am wasting his money yet whatever I want from school I can get it now through marriage. I have pleaded to no avail and wish someone could speak to my dad on my behalf as mother fears him,” she says.

Scovia Namuwaya (not real name) says her uncle whom she was staying with to be near school raped her almost every night and morning before going to school.

According to Namuwaya, it all started with her uncle making comments about her big buttocks and nice looks which she never minded much about until he pounced on her one night while aunt was away.

She narrates how what turned out as an almost daily experience left her with severe itching, foul discharge and pain in her private parts affecting her walking.

“I developed suicidal thoughts and bought tablets to take as an overdose as he raped me. I wanted him to be embarrassed so much when I die in his hands while raping me,” she asserts.

She notes that God may have averted that calamity since that night the incestuous uncle never came to her room.

Namuwaya’s woes never ended with her uncle as two other men attempted to rape her; one was a pastor she tried to confide in while another was an outreach health worker whom she had gone to for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) testing and treatment.

“When I went home for the second term holiday of 2023. I opened up to my mother who wanted to take legal action but was stopped by relatives. I am relieved at least that I am safely far from him,” she says.

The trio is just a few out of the sample space used by a local NGO in probing sexual violence in 30 select secondary schools across Busoga region.

Patrick Nabongho, a board member of Community Concerns Uganda Initiative (CCUg) notes that sexual violence affects the physical, psychological and social development of students.

“Evidence shows that such brutal acts cause poor performance in schools. It also forces learners to drop out of school,” he says.

He reveals that Mayuge topped the sample list with an overall sexual violence rate of 58.7% (62.2% for females), Kamuli had 47.2% (46.7% for females), Buyende registered 46.7% (51.8 % for females) while Jinja had 43% (48.8% for females).

For Luuka district, the figure stood at 42.6% (46.2% for females) and Namayingo trailed with 40.8% (46.5% for females).

He says during the data collection, the NGO had to carry out emergency evacuations to enable some victims to undergo urgent medical treatment for injuries.

What went wrong?

Jalia Nabirye, the Mayuge district education officer says the problem of sexual violence could be best explained by considering the local government’s proximity to Lake Victoria.

“We have nomadic fishing communities who end up with students abandoned in rental premises to regularly attend school. These children now become their own parents and can easily be sexually violated,” Nabirye narrates.

She adds that sexual violence in the form of having unwanted sex (defilement, incest or rape), bad touches and unwanted sexual comments cannot be avoided under the circumstances.

“Some students those like from Bwondha landing site have to cover 19km to the nearest public secondary school of Malongo S.S. Seven sub-counties lack government secondary schools,” she discloses.

Nabirye notes that the bad rural road network equally contributes to sexual violence as the girl-child is at the mercy of kanyamas (muscled men) who strategically pitch camp at flooded or slippery road sections to lift them across at a fee.

“The lifting is itself sexual violence as I have first-hand experience from my routine school inspections. These kanyama grab your buttocks, breasts and touch you all over under the guise of aiding your safe passage,” she testifies.

However, Nabirye insists that a similar study last year showed 67% sexual violence for female students hence this year’s data indicates a slight drop.

Godfrey Mulawa, a deputy head teacher of Buyengo SS notes that teachers whom students would report to sexual violence cases are at times perpetrators of the vice themselves.

“In some instances, the victims may want to report to the senior woman or male teacher, but they are nowhere on the school compound. These days many teachers are engaged in personal business ventures,” he says.

A teacher from Malongo Secondary School, who preferred anonymity argues that blaming teachers for engaging in business isn’t right since it is the local government forcing the status quo.

“Ever since President Yoweri Museveni increased pay for science teachers, Mayuge district officials concerned with payroll ensure they delay only secondary school salaries. Right now we are demanding December pay and one expects us to be duty-bound?” the teacher laments.

Genesis

In 2018, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) carried out the Violence Against Children in Schools (VACS) survey which prompted the education ministry to act. 

The action included the formulation of a national strategic plan on VACS with measures to prevent, protect and respond to any such violence.

The ministry had in 2014 put in place the Reporting, Tracking, Response and Referral (RTRR) guidelines on student-related aggression.

A 2013 baseline study on sexual violence in schools put the rate in Jinja and Kitgum districts at 52.1% and 37% respectively. Another probe of 2015 by the gender ministry covering nine districts got an average figure of 35.3% for girls while boys stood at 16.5%.

According to Eria Kisambira, the Jinja district education officer, the RTRR guidelines were developed due to the high occurrence of brutality against learners with numerous cases going unreported.

“The question which many ask is why a high percentage of schoolchildren do not know about their rights. This also applies to the majority of teachers,” Kisambira observes.

Ministry message

Saidi Nsamba, the commissioner for guidance and counselling at the education ministry, says safety of students is a major concern of the ministry.

“The school is supposed to be a conducive place for learning and nurturing. We are glad to have CCUg as partners and we hope that they proceed to support us in filling up the gaps needed to cause change,” Nsamba says.

Nsamba urges teachers to desist from indulging in sexual violence since the children under their care are underage with a right to being protected.

Suggested solutions

Kisambira feels teachers should not only be facilitators of academic knowledge but a wide range of issues including matters about human rights.

Milly Kayanga, the Mayuge senior probation officer urges school heads to use assembly time to speak to students about their rights and how they can use them for protection against violence.

Lydia Najjemba, the principal probation and welfare officer at the gender ministry calls for inclusion of the community in the fight against sexual violence since some locals cherish archaic cultural values regarding the girl-child.

“It is time to tell those locals who belittle females that a girl is as important as a boy. Let them be treated equally,” Najjemba implores.

She says the solution to this menace must involve parental guidance at home too as the COVID-19 scenario pointed at these establishments as the hottest spots of sexual violence.

“When the lockdown started in March nobody was allowed to move away from home but students were getting pregnant. An estimated 352, 062 girls got impregnated between March and October 2020 implying homes are unsafe,” she observes.

 WHAT OTHERS SAY 

Agnes Akwi, student

Some students are unaware that bad touches or the use of sexually suggestive language is also sexual violence. There is a need for sensitisation of learners.

John Wandira, teacher

Some students entice men into sex. However, on the part of teachers, there is a need to remember the professional code of conduct and handle learners as our children.

Sheila Babirye, student

In some societies, parents don’t mind about defilement or rape of their daughters whom they look at as the source of cash. This mindset has to change.