Over 200 underage girls married off in Bukwo annually

Over 200 cases of child marriages and teenage pregnancies are reported in Bukwo district annually, the district authorities have said.

This has been attributed to poverty, bad parenting, the poor justice system, and the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) cultural practice.

Ben Sakajja, the Bukwo District Community Development Officer (DCDO), said the district remains a hotspot of child marriage and teenage pregnancies even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that on average they receive about 10 defiled children every month.

He pointed out that since FGM is still widely seen as a rite of passage into womanhood, it continues to be a significant contributing factor to child marriage in Bukwo and other parts of the Sebei sub region.

FGM, also referred to as female circumcision, refers to the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs among girls.

The practice of FGM persists unabatedly in remote areas in mountains and woods, as well as across the border in Kenya, despite the 2010 FGM Act.

Some of the youth participating in the meetings. /Photos by Jeff Andrew Lule

The vice is prevalent among the Sabiny in the districts of Bukwo, Kween, and Kapchorwa in the Sebei subregion of Uganda. It is also extensively practiced by the Kadama in Nakapiripit, the Pokots in Amudat, and the Tepeth in Moroto district.

“You find that in a year more than 200 children go through teenage pregnancy and child marriage. And those are the cases which are reported to the police. So, even after COVID-19, we still have serious problems,” Sakajja added.

He disclosed this during a youth round table meeting consortium at Landmark Hotel in Soroti on how to curtail FGM, child marriages, and teen pregnancies within the hotspots of FGM districts, on November 10.

The event was organized by ActionAid International Uganda, with support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the theme: “The roles of the youth platforms and other stakeholders in the fight against child marriage, teenage pregnancy and FGM”.

Why the persistence?

Sakajja clarified that most perpetrators are always set free without justice being done, saying that very few cases are concluded.

He attributed this to alleged corruption within the justice system. “Many of the cases die along the way and never get concluded. It is a big problem, and we feel something needs to be done,” he said.

The district uses a network of para-social workers to monitor what is in the villages and report to the police, LCs, community development officers, and other authorities.

“But cases just die, and you don’t know what has happened to it, the culprit is set free, and the story ends there. We have filed more than 15 cases in court since the year began, but no ruling has been made since,” Sakajja added.

He added that many other cases end in settlements through talks between the victim's parents and the family of the offenders, in which the former offer financial and cow-related compensation, thus killing the case.

Review evidence for FGM cases

The AAIU's FGM program officer for the Sebei sub-region, Samuel Francis Ononge, stated that cultural rigidity within the FGM communities continues to be a barrier in the fight against FGM and is a major cause of adolescent pregnancy and child marriage.

According to him, the law itself needs to be reviewed to clarify what must be shown as proof in FGM cases.

“Because of the FGM Act in place, the practice is done secretly unlike before when it was a public with processions. But today they do everything covertly and by the time you reach there, the place is always cleared, and you can’t get anything,” he explained.

He cited that sometime back people were arrested in Kween, but the court requested the clitoris, which could not be produced. “Even after getting people with lamps, and knives, they still demanded for a clitoris as evidence which could not be produced in court and were set free. It is a big challenge,” he added.

According to him, law enforcement officials' ability to gather relevant data and evidence for cases like these needs to be strengthened.

“There is need to have adjustments on what should be provided by the community to prove as evidence apart from asking for a clitoris,” he added.

He said the youth engagement is geared towards building a strong network towards ending FGM and ending all norms violating rights of women and girls like FGM, Child marriage and domestic violence, in the Sebei and Karamoja sub regions being the hotspots for FGM.

“That is why we had to bring the youth and other responsible leaders from the six districts where FGM and child marriage are common. You know FGM is a key driver of child marriage. Once a girl is circumcised, then she is fit for marriage and that is why you find many young girls who are not yet 18-years carrying babies in these areas,” Ononge noted.

The discussion focused on identifying the challenges towards the campaign against FGM and child marriages, and come up with better approaches and innovations which can be used across to increase the campaign to end the practice especially FGM as a major driver. 

 “People must know that FGM is a violation of the rights of women and girls, and to understand that FGM has lifetime health effects on to the victim,” he added.

He said they are engaging boys and girls, together with the cultural, religious leaders and policy makers to ensure that they reach out to their communities effectively and educate them on the effects of these practices.

Ononge said the youth are expected to get back to their respective communities to conduct dialogues on the effect of FGM and other bad practices, through platforms like sports and social media to educate their communities   on the FGM using the knowledge attained.

“We realized the youth needed to take the lead in the campaign, especially the girls since they are more vulnerable. They can educate fellow girls in and out of school on the dangerous of FGM to their lives, and where they can seek help if they are being coerced,” he noted.

Risk of fueling HIV 

The National Youth Council's (NYC) communications secretary, Gady Epitu, stated that the FGM has made the Amudat district the epicenter for adolescent pregnancies and underage marriages in the Karamoja subregion.

 “A lot of action papers have been drafted with different implementing partners in Karamoja sub region on the Tepeth who are staying in Moroto near the mountain side who also practice FGM. But Amudat is the biggest hotspot in Karamoja sub-region of FGM, and also HIV/AIDS that is cropping up,” he noted.

He said the NYC has written several letters to Parliament and other partners to see how to support Karamoja, because they are isolated out of Karamoja.

He attributed the problems to increasing levels of illiteracy, and school dropouts in Amudat.

“You find that most people are out of school and so redundant, there is an aspect of poverty that is looming. Being a border district and the exchange visits, there is a lot that goes on there,” he added.

Model parents, grandparents approach

According to Harriet Aseko, the DCDO for Kapchorwa, they have received 20 cases of child marriage in the past few quarters.

She said the district is implementing a new parenting model strategy in which they seek out well-model parents who have opposed child marriage and FGM, and use them to mentor other parents in their neighborhoods.

“They speak to fellow parents in church, mosques, and public meetings, and during burials. So, when we are not there, they are able to do it and ours is just to facilitate them,” she added.

Aseko said they also use religious and cultural leaders, because of their command in communities.

Aseko said they have also developed an Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP), which was approved by the elders’ council.

“In the ARP, we have left out the bad part of cutting women and only taken up the good cultural practices especially graduating young girls and boys into adulthood which we used to do during the FGM procession,” she added.

The Senior probation and welfare officer for the Nakapirit district, Denis Athiyo, stated that after learning that grandmothers and older women are the ones performing FGM, they started a grandmother strategy to involve them and use them as ambassadors to spread the word about halting FGM.

However, he also noted the challenges of porous borders which now cutters use to elude arrest.

“But we still have a challenge of porous borders and after cutting, perpetrators run to Kenya,” he noted.

He stated that they receive roughly 10 cases of child marriage annually. “Remember that many cases go unreported. We believe that by involving young people, we can increase reporting and surveillance for prompt interventions,” he continued.