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 History Traditionally a woman’s place is in the home. Each wife had her own house, or at least her own room in a large house. She also had her own kitchen hearth and often had her own granary or food store. A woman had the responsibility of taking care of children and the elderly, food preparation, and household management. Girls were taught in the ways of cooking, basketry, pottery, childcare, dressing, and any other functions related to organizing a household. A woman was expected to conceive and give birth to a child within a year of marriage. If this did not occur people questioned whether or not she was “normal,” and the husband was allowed to marry another woman. Polygamy was a common practice. In the Baganda tribe, the largest tribal group in Uganda, marriage was a very important part of life. A woman was not respected until she was married. And a man was not complete without a wife. The more wives a man had the more highly he was regarded in society. Women were clearly beneath men in Ugandan society. Women were taught to accede to the wishes of their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sometime to other men as well. They were also required to demonstrate their subordination in most areas of public life. Even up to the 1980’s women in rural areas of Buganda were expected to kneel when speaking to a man. Many men claimed that their society revered women. Women were held as important religious leaders at a time when the western world would not recognize women as such. In some areas women were allowed to own land and grew crops for their own profit. But when the cash-crop industry grew to be lucrative many husbands claimed their wives land as their own. Local courts supported these claims. Present Education/Work 55.1% of women are illiterate whereas 36.5% of men are illiterate. 45% of children in primary education are female. This drops to 35% in secondary education. 53% of pupils in commercial colleges are female and 34% are female in universities. Only 3% of students in technical institutions are female. 47% of the working population (employed, self employed, and unpaid family workers) is female. 81% of these women work in agriculture whereas only 68% of the working male population works in the same occupation. 2% of the female working population works in administrative or professional occupations. And only 0.05% hold senior positions in the civil service. Society The more children one has, the wealthier they are considered. A woman is given more respect the more boys she has. If a man has no sons he must chose one of his brother’s sons to be his heir. Most women in rural areas give birth at home. After birth the placenta is buried and the woman is confined to the home for a number of days. Sometimes the woman is confined until the umbilical chord breaks from the child’s navel. These chords are then kept in special gourds. If a couple is unable to have children, the woman is blamed. If the family has too many children the woman is blamed. If a woman sells herself for sex the man who sleeps with her is considered a victim and the woman is condemned. Violence toward women is problem in Uganda. There are no direct laws to protect women from battery, although there are general laws concerning assault. Law officials rarely intervene in cases of domestic violence, feeling that wife beating is the husband’s prerogative. Women are more likely to sue for divorce than to file assault charges against their husbands. In many areas women cannot own or inherit land. They also cannot retain custody of their children in cases of divorce. Divorce laws are stricter for women attempting to prove adultery. Polygamy is also legal under Islamic and customary law. A wife can do nothing to prevent her husband from marrying another woman. Men can also inherit their brother’s wives if the brother should die. Although women do more of the agricultural work they own only 7% of the land. There area also limitations on a married woman’s ability to travel abroad with her children. Government In the 1980’s the government pledged to eliminate discrimination in official policy and practice. The government decreed that one woman would represent each district on the National Resistance Council. In addition the Uganda Commercial Bank (government-operated) has initiated a rural credit plan to make farm loans more accessible to women. Joyce Mpanga was minister for women and development in 1987 and she set out to improve the lives of women. In 1989 there were two women serving as ministers and three as deputy ministers in the cabinet. In 1990 5% of parliament was female. And finally the vice president is female, Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe. |
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