First Lady condemns child abuse during lockdown

KAMPALA  | HEATH  | COVID-19

The First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, has expressed concern over the reported abuses against children during the COVID-19 lockdown. In a message issued on Friday, Mrs Museveni gave the youngsters a child helpline to report abuses.

"If you are in trouble at home because of a relative who should take care of you, learn to say no. And say no very loudly so that your father, your mother or somebody near, who cares about you, can help you," she said.

The First Lady said if there are no people to respond to distress calls from children, they could run to their aunties or grandparents.

"There must be somebody who cares. Our families are still large. We still have extended families; surely, there should be somebody who can help you. When you fail to get somebody to help you altogether, look for a phone and call 116," she added.

There are reports that several girls have been defiled and some impregnated during the partial lockdown imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On March 20, Uganda instituted a number of measures to decongest public places and institutions to reduce the pace of the spread of the novel virus. Schools were among the institutions that were shut down and remain closed to date.

According the Police, over 4,400 cases of defilement were reported between January and April 2020. A local non-governmental organisation reported 800 cases of sexual abuse between January and May this year, including teenage pregnancies.

 The Police and the gender ministry have been reporting rising cases of domestic violence and abuse against children since the lockdown measures were announced.

"I decided to talk to you not as a minister, but as a mother, maybe as a grandmother," she added.

Mrs Museveni explained that at the height of the AIDs epidemic that killed people in all parts of the country, the Government mounted a campaign designed to encourage behavioural change to combat the disease.

This, she said, reduced HIV transmissions from mothers to babies and there was hope that there would be an HIV-free generation.

 "This worked and there were many children born without HIV. But then COVID-19 came," she said. The closure of schools, Mrs Museveni said, was rooted in the understanding that the children would get out of the learning institutions free of COVID-19 and be safe at home.

"And then suddenly, we hear a new outcry coming from our communities that the children who are now at home are not secure and are being sexually abused and forced into marriages," she said.

The education minister said there have been discussions that schools should be reopened just to secure the children from dangers in their homes.

However, Mrs Museveni said the reports from some of the children's homes helped her appreciate that a new campaign needs to also target the children rather than parents alone.

"To you the youth, you know that bars were closed. But I am told you get alcohol and take it home or your places of residence. They switch off the lights and do all sorts of things in the dark. That is where some get pregnant. Some are using drugs," the First Lady said.

She appealed to the young people to protect their lives and pursue their dreams. She said the ministry made an effort to reach the children at home by distributing instructional materials and there are plans to send more and as well deliver some lessons through the electronic media. The minister said she could not tell when schools would reopen.