MPs want each school to have sex abuse policy

MBARARA. Members of Parliament (MPs) have urged all institutions of learning across the country to formulate policies against sexual violence.
The MPs are part of the nine-member committee constituted by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga last month to investigate the extent of the vice across education institutions in the country.
Led by Luuka North MP Stephen Kisa, the legislators have visited selected institutions in the northern, eastern and central regions.
The team is currently in the western region and has visited Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Maryhill High School.
Mr Kisa on Wednesday said MUST is the only institution that has a policy on sexual harassment but said this should be a must for all other institutions in the country.
“We are going to use MUST sexual harassment policy as a case study for other institutions to use in fighting the vice,’’ he said.
He added: “The vice of sexual violence is real and many people have testified and alluded to this. Lecturers are having relationships with students though those cases are not reported and institutions lack the policy to guide them on punishing the perpetrators.”

Advice
The Deputy Vice Chancellor in-charge of academics at MUST, Ass Prof Nixson Kamukama, said sexual violence should be fought by appointing the right individuals into offices.
“Policies are always there but people act otherwise. It [sexual violence] is a psycho-social problem and here what we have done, we are using social solutions to address the problem by continuously engaging students, which has helped a lot. As MUST, we have gone beyond policy level to handle this vice,’’ he said.