Uganda: The Wretched Women of the Aids Struggle
Jane Nafula
The Monitor via AllAfrica
Aug 4, 2008
Ms Ann Asokot, of Gogonyo village in Pallisa District thought that by revealing her HIV status to her husband, she would be supported. Little did she know that this was the beginning of a violent relationship and stigma.
Ms Asokot was among participants at a leaders' Forum on violence against women and girls organised by ActionAid in Soroti on July 26.
She said her husband abandoned her and their six children after she revealed her status.
"He asked me two questions. Where did you get it?, How did you get it? When I failed to answer them, he showed me the exit and rejected all my children," Ms Asokot said as she broke down in tears.
"I have failed to get answers to these questions to date," she added.
Despite of the accusations, Ms Asokot is convinced her husband brought AIDS to her. She said between 1988 and 1994, her husband lost three wives to a "long illnesses."
When she started falling sick so often, she suspected her co-wives could have died of AIDS. In 1997, she tested positive for HIV. "I went through stigma at home and in the community. I thank Actionaid for having taken me through the psychosocial support because it relieved me of stress and helped me to plan ahead," she says.
Action Aid supports members of the National Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS to empower victims of violence to claim and demand for their rights.
The story of Ms Damali Mutyaba from Namutumba District is almost similar to that of Ms Asokot. Ms Mutyaba who is also living with HIV/AIDS says she has suffered for the last 45 years she has been married.
"My husband beats me almost every day and sells the food I grow to marry other women. All my children who have grown up have been chased away from home so that there is no one to protect me from violence," she said.
She says whenever she constructs a permanent house using her money, her husband evicts her from it to give way for the new wife.
"I have built three houses but I have lost all of them to his wives. I'm currently staying in a grass thatched hut," she said. The Regional Manager of ActionAid Uganda, Ms Ann Akwango, said these are some of the hundreds of women facing all sorts of violence.
Ms Akwango said violence against women living with AIDS is increasing.
Statistics from Pallisa indicate that this year alone, at least 100 out of the 465 women experienced violence on declaring their status.
Presenting the results of a study carried out in Pallisa recently, Ms Akwango said women fear to disclose their status, get counselling and treatment for fear of being battered.
She said in Pallisa, 65.3 per cent of the respondents indicated that they had been physically abused, 63 per cent were sexually abused while 70 per cent of the women had forced sex. These are some of the factors responsible for the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among women and girls.
It is estimated that in Uganda, 8 per cent of women and girls have HIV/Aids compared to 5 per cent of men and boys. In children between the ages of 15-19, there are four infected girls for every one infected boy.
And for those between the ages of 20-24, there are two infected girls for every one infected boy.
This is because girls and women are susceptible to sexual abuse, have limited access to information on HIV prevention and are not empowered to make decisions whether they should use condoms or other HIV prevention methods.
The Country Director of ActionAid, Mr Charles Busingye, said poverty is escalating violence and the spread of HIV among women. "Poor women are battling the deprivation imposed by lack of food, clean water, shelter, and employment and are subjected to daily cruel discrimination and sexual abuse," Mr Busingye said.
Soroti Woman MP Alice Alaso says conflicts, cattle rustling and alcoholism are some of the factors responsible for the high levels of poverty in the region.
A recent study in eastern Uganda shows that marital rape and other forms of violence against women are increasing under the guise of drunkenness.
Ms Alaso says if the Domestic Relations Bill is passed, issues of marital rape would be addressed.
Ms Alaso said violence against women living with HIV/AIDS is the most complex. "They already have a challenge of living with the virus, face stigma and discrimination. This is a dangerous cycle of brutality which happens everyday," she said.
