Sexual offences Bill: One step closer to ending child sexual abuse in Uganda

Uganda has one of the highest global burdens of malaria cases, with over 90 percent of the population at risk. Malaria is Uganda’s leading cause of death, especially in children. In 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that there were an estimated 13 million malaria cases and over 19,600 estimated deaths in the country.

Since Uganda remains one of the countries with the highest prevalence rate of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, the worst forms of child sexual abuse.

 Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy exponentially shot up during the outbreak of Covid-19. The rise in teenage pregnancies, child marriages and ultimately the number of adolescent mothers has been widely reported by all stakeholders and witnessed in communities.

According to Unicef, the current statistics indicate that 34 percent of children are married before the age of 18 and 7.3 percent before the age of 15 and an average of 1,000 teenage pregnancies being reported per day (Ministry of Health). Uganda has one of the youngest populations in Africa. According to the 2014 census, 55 percent of its population (now estimated at about 42 million) is below 18 years old. The youth take a big percentage of the country’s population.  Child marriage creates significant barriers for girls’ education. In some places, married girls are legally prohibited from attending school; while in many others social norms and new family responsibilities force them to end their schooling.

While a number of national and international legal instruments have been put in place and ratified by the government of Uganda to protect the fundamental right of children to not be married before the age of 18, including the national Constitution, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, more legal frameworks are still critical towards addressing the vice which  is still  deeply rooted in cultural norms and traditions. Government of Uganda has made tremendous efforts towards addressing child sexual abuse including passing the Sexual Offences Bill 2019 which was passed by Parliament in May 2021 but not assented into law by the President. The Bill is critical in preventing all forms of violence against children; it is the first legislation that fully addresses the issue of child marriage which is rampant in the country. If passed into law, the Sexual Offences Bill will offer legal protection to survivors and those that are a risk for child sexual abuse. It will protect girls from child marriage and teenage pregnancy key recommendations include: 1) setting a minimum age for marriage at 18 years old; 2) providing for no exceptions upon parental consent or court’s authorisation; 3) criminalising child marriage and enforcing clear sanctions. The creation of a robust and uniform legal framework relating to child marriage and teenage pregnancy is a key path to addressing child marriage in Uganda.  The Bill will encourage government to be accountable in the execution of policies, enactment of by-laws and coming up with strategic plans aimed at addressing child marriage.

 Laws can be effective only if enforcement measures are in place. Legal reform in this area will only be effective if combined with other tools to raise awareness among the local communities, and comprehensive strategies to address the main drivers of child marriage, such as cultural norms and traditions poverty, gender inequality and food insecurity.

Going forward, we understand that legislation alone is not enough to end child sexual abuse but it’s a starting point to move towards ending all forms of violence against children.

Ms Sandra Karungi Tukwasibwe is  the head of programmes at Joy for Children- Uganda.