Teachers are on trial but schools can still be the answer to defilement question

In 2010, a peculiarly absurd case was reported by The Guardian newspaper. In Katine, Soroti District, a 17-year-old girl had not shown up at home one night. When quizzed by her parents, she revealed that she had spent the night with her teacher. A one-night-stand, in urban speak.

The parents reported the case to the police, who arrested the teacher. The detention didn’t take long because soon after, the girl’s parents opted for an out-of-court settlement and the teacher was released. Police were left holding the bag. If you follow cases of defilement in Uganda, then you know that this scenario reoccurs thousands of times, almost everywhere.

The enforcers don’t have the means and motivation. The accusers are impoverished and powerless. The offenders can pay. Fix that puzzle and you will have dealt with the vice. But that is easier said than done, especially because even at the higher echelons of power, where motivation should be highest, it doesn’t seem like this is a problem.

Consider that just this week, the President pardoned 13 convicts, 11 of whom had been serving time for defilement. The Vice President and the Speaker of Parliament come from and represent the region with the highest cases of defilement and teenage pregnancies – a consequence of the vice.

The law in Ugandan defines defilement as the act of having sex with a girl under 18. The 2021 Police crime report put the cases of defilement at 14,436. And that is counting only those that got reported because we know that women don’t always report cases of sexual violations. Even worse if you consider that a significant number of defilement cases usually cite relatives and people of some authority as offenders.

According to the Ministry of Health, 25 percent of Ugandan teenagers become pregnant by the age of 19. Close to half are married before their 18th birthday and continue having babies into their mid-40s.”

That is the problem at hand. It is how we end up with just about 2 percent of children enrolled in school failing to complete the cycle. It is how we end up with skyrocketing cases of unsafe abortions and maternal mortality rates that are competing with some of the worst in the world. It is how we end up with the puzzle of poverty because we are unable to keep girls safe and in school; because we have dug in against comprehensive sex education even when the Science says that it works; because like the case is with many other crimes, we have created a country where offenders know that they can get away with it.

As this column has posited in the past, for countries like Uganda, schools (can) act as safety nets and guard railing for girls who are (most) at risk. This, even in a week where a teacher, John Ssenfuma, was caught in flagrante delicto, attempting to defile his 15-year-old student.

We can start with making it mandatory for teacher training colleges to teach child protection and safeguarding that is specific to Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). Teaching, not because the offenders don’t know what they are doing but because you must erase all manner of doubt and nescience, if you are going to impose sanctions.

They require every school to have a safeguarding policy that teachers are oriented with and sign as part of their contract. Have abridged versions for students to grasp. Have posters pinned around schools making it clear what unwanted sexual advances look like, and what sort of contact between adults/teachers and students is permissible; and what specific actions will be taken against those who offend the policy.

If students are conscious and know how to respond in awkward situations with teachers who wield as much power over them as is evident, this same knowledge and confidence should be transferable to other predators outside school. There are some ignoramuses who argue, foolishly, say that students tempt teachers. The responsibility is always on whoever wields power in the dynamic – no ifs, no buts.

Mr Rukwengye is the founder, Boundless Minds. [email protected]