Women’s rights advocacy almost cost her a marriage

Jane France Oling is the executive director of Women in Development and the public relations director at Theta. She has for the past years been actively defending the rights of women and the girl -child in Uganda trying to create a sensitisation forum for all Ugandans to support the effort of meeting gender transformation, which she believes transforms the society in general. “A society that undermines its women is working against itself. We have so far witnessed what women can do given the freedom. Women have not only successfully taken up leadership roles but they are also the biggest contributors in the agricultural sector which is the backbone of the country,” Oling notes.

She is however, quick to point out that some women tend to misinterpret their rights and they think their freedom means emasculating men. Which causes a lot of misunderstandings in families and relationships. “Some women get our message wrong. Having freedom does not mean infringing on your husband’s rights and responsibilities, it means keeping well within your right while respecting others’ too,” she asserts.

Starting out
While at school even-though she was among the young one, Oling says she has always been a defender of people’s rights. “I have always been protective of everyone I sensed was being abused. For instance, I took it as my responsibility to protect my siblings from bullies at school,” Oling recounts. The biggest inspiration for Oling however, is the need she felt to protect her mother and other women in her village from their husbands who battered them at the drop of a hat.

“At one time, when I was still in primary school, I came home and I found my mother sad and I confronted my father who was sitting under a tree at home. I asked him to tell me the truth since he always emphasised truth among us. He told me that mum was sad because she did not want him to sell part of the family land. Another time I had to defend my mother against the extended family that was ganging up on her,” Oling explains.

Fighting for women rights became such a big part of her life that even her father started supporting her whenever she raised her voice to defend any woman oppressed in her community. To achieve her dream, Oling chose to study social sciences that equipped her with the skills she needs to deal with people from all walks of life.

Juggling family and activism
For the passionate activist, marriage and activism are two difficult things to handle at the same time. She says she has to be more careful and work harder to convince her husband and in-laws that she is not disrespectful of either her marriage or her culture. “Men cease to see you as a normal woman with similar needs and dreams as those of other women. They start looking at you as a movement that is out to trample on their rights and take over their responsibilities. They will test you at every turn to find out if you will submit to them or attack them. It helps when you know this in advance so you treat yourself accordingly,” she shares.

She recalls that, at times, her husband would question everything she did, where she went and whom she associated with. She describes this as one of the most trying moments of her married life. “Even though we want to claim our rights we still seek to do it with respect and we always seek to be submissive to our husbands even though we are misunderstood,” Oling adds.

Looking forward
Oling says she will continue advocating for the well-being of girls and women in country and she will not only seek to keep engaging adolescents, but also the oppressed women in the country.
“Our girls and women are facing challenges because the community has not stood with them as they undergo oppression and when they are deprived off their rights. We are appealing to society to appreciate the nature of girls and women to improve their wellbeing,” Oling explains.

Brief profile
Jane Frances Oling was born in October, 1985. A social scientist by profession Oling is a mother and wife. She is a daughter of Beatrice and CJ Otim Oling and a younger sister of minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Developmen minister Betty Amongi.
In 2009, Oling acquired a Bachelor of Arts Social Sciences (BASS) at Makerere University, and later in 2011 she was awarded a Diploma in Social Work and Social Administration, Makerere Institute of Social Development.

She started her school life at Ngeta girls in Lira and the unrest in northern Uganda forced her parents to take her to Kyaggwe Road Primary School in Kampala where she finished her primary seven and later joined City High in Kololo for 0-Level and she finished her A-Level at Premiere High School in Ntinda, Kampala.
She is currently working as an Executive Assistant in the public relations department at THETA-Uganda in Lira, Kole and Dokolo districts, Oling is also the executive director, women in development where she directly engages adolescent girls and women throughout the country in economic empowerment, safe motherhood and equal opportunities.