Luweero mother: Don’t crucify her too quickly

The reaction to last weekend’s child assault case in Luweero District has made it abundantly clear that such abuse is an outrage that deserves to be condemned.

Dorothy Nabulime’s storms of rage captured in a video that went viral have been greeted with fierce displeasure. As indeed they should.

Nabulime, 22, who was charged with torturing the second of her three children. It is, however, instructive to note that there are two sides to a coin. At any rate, the fact that Nabulime twice conceived in her teens should not be glossed over. But above all, it should be deeply disturbing that the 22-year-old single mother is not an outlier when it comes to parents in Uganda subjecting their children to serious harm.

As history shows, the strong public reaction to cases in which young children have been cruelly treated doesn’t mean lightning won’t strike twice. The beat, unfortunately, goes on. It, therefore, invariably follows that an attempt to get to the bottom of what underlies the spread of violence against children takes centre stage.

Various studies in Uganda have established the linkages between absence of social safety nets and childhood violence. For one, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) lists teenage pregnancy as one of the risk factors for child protection violations. Unicef holds that the very existence of the monster that is teenage pregnancy “threatens and halts [the] holistic and positive development” of its victims.

It is easy to forget—as many seem to have—that Nabulime was once a victim. And, above all, that victims (especially those who are steadfast in their refusal to be classified as one) can easily become compassionless. Sadly, it appears state actors are determined to have Nabulime incarcerated. While at Luweero Central Police Station this past weekend, Ms Nabulime did her valiant best to conceal any fear or regret. Her affect, though, could quite possibly be deceptive. Conceiving twice at the backend of her teens is certainly symptomatic of childhood emotional, physical and sexual violence.

While Uganda takes great pride in its relatively low recidivism rate, the question about whether prison is the right place to rehabilitate Nabulime is consequential. What state actors should interest themselves in is why the mother of three chose to feed her anger where others would choose to starve theirs. This, we reckon, would be a great starting point to comprehend the repeat problem of abusive parents.

We join non-state actors like Unicef in recommending that standalone interventions tailored at reducing risks for childhood violence be seriously considered. The government should get ahead of child protection failures by melding social safety nets within integrated protection systems so as to reduce violence risk. Short of that, a vicious cycle in which victims become compassionless caregivers will continue to hold sway.

So far, signs that state actors will respond constructively are not good. Most of them—like the police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate—appear keen to score political points. We believe such a status quo is absurd and unnecessary, especially since it is known to have a domino effect of loss perpetuating loss.  Efforts to stamp out the root causes of an ailing child protection system have to start in earnest. As Nabulime’s case shows, children who have been failed so monumentally quite often go on to become either abusive or neglectful parents. This virtuous circle must be snapped.

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