Flower exporters step up sexual violence campaign

FLORICULTURE

35-year old Madinah Namuyanja, a mother of two, has been employed on a flower farm in Bupayi Village, Wakiso district, for the last ten years.

She supervises a team of about 20 workers who trim fresh flower cuttings that are packed and prepared for export every day.

Floriculture is one of the fast-growing industries in Uganda and one of the top foreign exchange earners for the economy.

With at least 15 flower firms spread across the country, the sector largely employs women, most of them single mothers who have to fend for their children.

The sector has opened up doors for many young women to work, but not without its fair share of challenges, according to Esther Nekambi, the executive director of the Uganda Flowers Exporters Association (UFEA).

With no specialized education or skill required for one to work on the farm, all one needs is to love their job, Nekambi says, noting that women have natural love for flowers.

Over the years, at least 20% of the women at work on the flower farms have risen to supervisory roles while about 20% have grown into managerial positions.

Yet, the elevation has not spared them of the sexual harassment at the hands of their male colleagues, Nekambi says, although the cases have reduced significantly.

"Many managers have lost their jobs as a result of sexual harassment and the message is clear to workers that it is a crime," says Virginia Munywa, the regional Manager (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania) at Hivos, a Dutch-founded development organisation said.

Her organisation is supporting a pilot project to step up workplace measures to end sexual harassment at all flower farms.

Munywa says their focus is to have a conducive work environment that is secure, safe and fair, with pay that supports not only the workers' daily needs but also their development needs.

Under the initiative, flower export firms will create mechanisms for reporting cases and empower workers to say NO to sexual harassment, Munywa explains.

Nekambi, who built her career around flower farms at the age of 23, had a word of caution for the young women during the association's International Women's Day celebration on Saturday.

"The sky is the limit and all you need is to have personal goals. No supervisor can take you to your destiny; if he crashes, you will crash with him," she said.

"Purpose to grow yourself emotionally and look farther than where you are right now. Positions are available at the top but you have to demonstrate ability. You have to get out of self-pity."