SGBV cases can frustrate Uganda from achieving middle income status- diplomat

Justice Mike Chibita signing on the GBV report during its launch at Serena hotel April 4, 2022. Looking on is the Ambassador of Austria to Uganda, Dr Roswitha Kremser, Adekemi Ndieli head of office UN Women, Lady Justice Eva Luswata. PHOTO / RACHEL MABALA 

Because of the increase in Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases 47 percent of all teenage mothers in Uganda remain trapped in subsistence agriculture, Dr Kremser Roswitha, the head of development cooperation at Austrian Embassy in Uganda has said.

“Therefore, any SGBV case resulting in yet another teenage pregnancy will keep Uganda farther away from its objective to achieve middle income status as quickly as possible,” she said.
She made the remarks on Monday while attending the GBV training manual for judicial officers in Kampala.
She said figures from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicate that a striking 51 percent of the affected women and girls neither sought help nor told anyone about their experience of violence.

“I always think that it’s a true shame that our societies still have to grapple with such phenomenon in the 21st century, when we generally we have made a lot of progress in the empowerment and protection of women and girls,” she said.
Dr Kremser while at the launch of training manual for judicial officers, noted that before the pandemic, 45 percent of all girls between the age of 15 and 19, reported physical and or sexual violence in Uganda.
The training of the judicial officers focused on introduction of gender-based violation cases, legal framework and specific manifestations and acquiring skills with the aim of improving access to justice for sex gender-based violence victims.

The training was attended by several judicial officers, including Justice Mike Chibta and Justice Eva Luswata.
According to police annual crime report 2020-21, at least 16,144 sexual related cases were reported compared to 15,638 cases reported in 2019.
The report shows  that a  total of 16,257 persons were victims of sex related crimes, out of whom, 14,320 were female juveniles, 202 were male juveniles, 1,632 were female adults and 103 were male adults.

Recommendations
The head of United Nation Women Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Ms Ndieli Adekemi, who also attended the event appealed to the judicial officers to prioritize the institutionalization and operationalization of the training manual promptly, enhance data collection initiatives. According to her, accurate data informs effective gender-based violence programming and effectively informs future initiatives and interventions.