Within the second of a two-part collection from Uganda, Timothy Mbene Masereka spoke to the UN Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA) forward of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, marked yearly from 25 November to 10 December, Human Rights Day.
As a village well being employee, Mr. Masereka goes from home to accommodate in among the remotest areas in Kasese district in western Uganda.
He enjoys serving to folks and is adept at managing sicknesses akin to malaria and pneumonia. Nevertheless, there was one well being emergency that he didn’t know find out how to handle: violence towards girls and women.
“Throughout my classes [in people’s homes], I noticed that gender-based violence was an issue, and I attempted to deal with it at a decrease degree, utilizing my very own reasoning, however I lacked the abilities to essentially resolve the difficulty,” he mentioned.
What Mr. Masereka noticed wasn’t uncommon – violence towards girls and women is the world’s most pervasive human rights violation, affecting one in three girls globally. In Uganda, nearly 30 per cent of women and girls reported experiencing intimate accomplice violence previously 12 months.
Regardless of its prevalence, Mr. Masereka mentioned violence towards girls and women was handled as a personal problem.
“In my neighborhood, males dominated, and gender-based violence wasn’t mentioned overtly,” he defined.
Change begins at residence
When Mr. Masereka was approached to finish gender-based violence coaching supported by the Spotlight Initiative by means of the UN sexual and reproductive well being company, UNFPA, he jumped on the alternative.
“The neighborhood growth officer talked to me concerning the Highlight Initiative and its work on stopping violence towards girls and women,” he mentioned. “She mentioned males have a giant position to play in stopping violence and requested whether or not I wished to work as male motion group mentor.”
He then attended a coaching run by ACORD, a nationwide non-governmental group that promotes social justice. In the course of the course, he discovered find out how to discuss to males and boys about gender-based violence, find out how to counsel {couples} to resolve disputes by means of dialogue and find out how to establish and refer girls and women experiencing violence to the suitable authorities and companies.
The coaching additionally opened his eyes to subtler types of violence, akin to financial violence and unequal gender energy dynamics.
“For instance, the ladies plant [crops], however they got no say in what occurs to the crops; the boys made [all] the selections,” he defined.
Enhancing energy dynamics
The course compelled him to look at the distribution of energy and labour in his personal family.
“I discovered that chores within the residence could be carried out by each women and men,” he mentioned. “The pounding and cooking of meals and bathing the youngsters are all duties that may be achieved by each the mom and the daddy.”
When he first started to tackle home chores, he mentioned folks laughed at him: “They’d say ‘He has been put down by his spouse,’ issues like that.” However once they noticed how rather more productive his home turned, their attitudes modified.
“You get issues achieved quicker,” he mentioned. “For instance, if my spouse is getting ready meals, I can wash the dishes. If my spouse is gathering firewood, I can get water. [This way,] all of us eat earlier.”
Mr. Masereka mentioned this shift has improved his relationship together with his spouse and kids.
“I really feel blissful as a result of now the youngsters can inform me something, my spouse doesn’t conceal something – she could be very clear and clear, as I’m along with her,” he mentioned.
SDG 5: EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS
- Finish all types of discrimination and violence towards girls and women
- Get rid of such dangerous practices as early and compelled marriages and feminine genital mutilation
- Adapt and strengthen laws to advertise gender equality and empower girls and women
- Guarantee girls’s full and efficient participation and equal alternatives for management in political, financial and public life
- Guarantee common entry to sexual and reproductive well being care
Globally, nearly half of all married girls at present lack decision-making energy over their sexual and reproductive well being and rights.
Shifting attitudes and supporting survivors
The Highlight Initiative goals to get rid of violence towards girls and women by means of complete programming that addresses all key drivers of violence. It promotes legal guidelines and insurance policies that stop violence, strengthens establishments, promotes gender-equitable social norms, strengthens girls’s actions and supplies important companies to survivors of violence.
Since 2019, greater than 1,500 males in Uganda have skilled as constructive male position fashions with the assist of Highlight Initiative by means of UNFPA. Every of them performs a important position in altering the norms and attitudes that result in violence and supporting survivors to entry the companies they want.
Mr. Masereka raises consciousness of the difficulty by distributing info at church and neighborhood features, conducts residence visits to assist {couples} resolve points and leads discussions about violence amongst males and boys on the male motion teams he visits.
He additionally follows up on women who drop out of faculty and baby marriage instances. He additionally helps survivors of violence to entry well being and justice companies. This contains escorting girls and women to the police and native council workplaces to report violence.
To him, participating males and boys is a important step in eliminating violence.
“Most perpetrators of gender-based violence are males,” he mentioned bluntly. “Males and boys could be a part of the answer. They’ll use their energy to vary the neighborhood for the higher.”
- The worldwide Highlight Initiative to get rid of violence towards girls and women is a United Nations joint effort with the European Union and different companions.
- In Uganda, it’s applied by the Authorities of Uganda, the European Union, UN Girls, UN entities for reproductive well being (UNFPA), kids (UNICEF), growth (UNDP) and refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with UN companies for human rights (OHCHR) and migration (IOM), the UN Pulse Lab in Uganda and civil society.
- Since 2019, the Highlight Initiative has supported nearly a million girls and women in Uganda to entry important companies.