Uganda: Gender Inequity
Amy Larko -Mini Paper #2
World History-Hjelmgren
Period 7
May 15, 2009
Uganda: Gender Inequity
Today in America, we are not aware of how fortunate we are for the equality and freedom we have. Imagine waking up day after day being discriminated against just because of the sex you were born as and being constantly reminded that you are less than a male; the unfortunate truth is that this is how Ugandan women feel. Throughout Uganda, gender inequity is a reoccurring problem that is yet to be solved. The inequality shows up as a real problem especially when it comes to a women's jobs and every day life (Erinah).
One may assume that the harder one works, the greater the reward. Or maybe the better education, the better chance of the job. This is far from the case in Uganda (Xinhua News Agency). Without any background information on one's qualifications, the job is always given to the Ugandan males over any woman (Erinah). This is due to the belief that womdn are only made to be "baby-makers", therefore claiming they do not deserve to work (Erinah). After a job is given in Uganda, only the men are offered a training course, already putting a woman on the lower hand (Erinah). But first, if a woman wants to even have a slight chance of getting the job, she is sexually abused (Erinah). If/when the job is granted to a woman, they are often paid lower due to the low social status they obtain (Erinah). Overall, it is easy to see the great struggle women must go through to even try to provide for themselves by getting a job.
Beside the job problem, women are faced with bigotry when it comes to how they are treated in every day life. In America, it is tradition for young males to be circumcised when born. Although for women, it was banned due to the excruciating pain it would cause them. But in Uganda both genders are known to be circumcised (Erinah). It is stated that women have died, experienced severe pain, and infections from these circumcisions (Erinah). Not only do women have to face physical trauma, but they also are induced with the mental misery of a forced marriage (Sister Namiba). The father of a woman decides when his daughter is fully developed, who she should marry (Erinah). The motivation behind this is the father is being selfish in the hope that his daughter will marry a rich man, which is referred to as "bride wealth" (Erinah). The fact that a woman is not even allowed to choose who she wants to spend the rest of her life with is a major problem.
In conclusion, inequality in Uganda still stands as a dilemma holding back women from living their own independent lives. On the bright side, the Association of Women Lawyers is trying to pursue new laws such as no more forced marriages (Namibia). Along with preventing the forced marriages, the association hopes to fight for the 38% of women in poverty because of the job obstacle (Namibia). The change of Ugandan women rights has been being fought for since 2000 in hope that the gender inequity will dissolve (Namibia). We Americans may not be able to help those women in Uganda, but we can be fortunate for the equal rights here.
Annotated Bibliography
"Common Wealth Civil Meets in Uganda Over Gender Equality." Xinhua News Agency.Global Issues in Context. http://allafrica.com/stories/200706010474.html June 8, 2007.
From this source I was informed of the poverty statistics because of gender inequity, women are more common to poverty (largest proportion of the poor)- since they aren't offered as many jobs.
Sister Namibia. "Women Lawyers Force Big Rights Gains in Uganda." Global Issues in Context. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Women+lawyers+force+big+rights+gains+in+Uganda.-a0171660066 July, 2007.
In this article, I learned that they women lawyers are to this day still working on the same marriage rights- and holding a compaign for it in Uganda.
Nabbanja, Erinah. "Violation of Women's Rights in Uganda." Internal Humanist and Ethical Union. http://www.lheu.org/hode/2439. Dec 3, 2000.
This source was by far the most helpful to me. Reasons being because it gave me many topics than supported it with detalied evidence on why the gender inequity was still a reoccuring problem in Uganda.
Last Updated: Amy Larko, May 22 2009
