A decade after a landmark United Nations conference resolved to tackle violence against women head on, not enough has been done to put an end to this scourge, say female legislators from East Africa.
The members of parliament (MPs) made the claim Tuesday, during a video conference with their counterparts in the United Kingdom, held to commemorate International Women’s Day.
Legislators from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda said political leaders in their countries had largely relegated violence against women — and other issues related to gender equality — to the back seat of policy-making and resource allocation over the past ten years. However, these same leaders were quick to dust off gender issues during election campaigns, when they were in search of the female vote.
”The Domestic Relations Bill, tabled in parliament almost five years ago, is currently awaiting a second reading,” said Miria Matembe, a Ugandan MP and former minister of ethics and integrity. ”Why we do not have a law surrounding domestic relations is simply because the president does not like it. Now he is saying ‘yes’ because elections are near, in 2006.”
President Yoweri Museveni’s alleged apathy towards the plight of abused women has endured even as the effects of domestic violence have been felt in his own cabinet: in 2002, former vice president Specioza Kazibwe revealed that she had been battered by her husband.
”There is also the Sexual Offences Bill, whose status is not very clear,” said Matembe.
”The Law Reform Commission conducted a nationwide survey on what people wanted highlighted in the proposed law, after which it prepared a report and submitted it to the justice ministry three years ago. Nothing has been said about the report despite pressure from women parliamentarians.”
Further south, in Kenya, key legislation in the fight to end violence against women is also pending — namely the Domestic Violence and Family Protection Bill.
”We hope this will be a priority when parliament re-opens next week. We are soliciting for support even from our male counterparts,” said Kenyan legislator Adelina Mwau.
According to the country’s most recent Demographic and Health Survey, conducted in 2003, 48% of women in urban areas have been abused sexually, physically or emotionally.
The levels of sexual violence have even prompted women parliamentarians to sponsor a bill that would make rape punishable by castration. The Sexual Offences Bill was put before parliament last year.
”We are positive that this will sail through because we have support from both sides of the House,” Mwau said.
But, as other legislators noted, getting the right laws in place is only half the battle when it comes to ending abuse of women. Tanzania, where a 1999 law banned harassment of women and sexual violence, was cited as a case in point.
”The law has not been effective because women still do not report violations, as well as take their spouses or anyone who violates them to court,” Rhoda Kahatano, a Tanzanian MP, said in an interview. ”This is mostly because of the fear that they will lose financial support of the spouse.”
”Again, culture plays a big role in that it provides for the woman to endure violence from the man, who is considered the head (of the family),” she added.
As a result, female legislators in Tanzania have joined forces with non-governmental organisations to educate women about the importance of using rights accorded to them under law.
”We are encouraging them to take their husbands, brothers, sons or anyone who abuses them to court. We want them to know that tradition must not stand in the way of their rights,” noted Kahatano.
For her part, British MP Harriet Harman said that even such education campaigns had their limits.
”Domestic violence is a hidden problem, and education alone cannot be enough because even the educated woman will still be battered,” she observed. ”Involving men in the fight to end violence against women is important because it is they who batter women. The fight cannot be won by only women.”
According to Harman, two women die in the United Kingdom each day because of domestic violence.
For some gender activists, getting more women elected to parliament is a key part of making governments more assertive in ending violence against women. The belief is that female legislators who are a force to be reckoned with, by virtue of their numbers, will have the clout to ensure that both the letter and the spirit of laws to protect women are observed.
If that is the case, then Kenya — for one — has some way to go.
At present, the country has only 18 female MPs out of a total of 222 legislators. Unimpressive as this figure is, it is still marks the highest number of women parliamentarians elected in Kenya.
In Uganda, the situation is more promising, with 78 women in a parliament of over 300 — while Tanzania’s 295-seat legislature includes 62 women.
Tuesday’s video conference, organised by the British Council, took place as delegates from around the world were meeting in New York to discuss progress in achieving gender equality since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women was held in 1995. This meeting took place in Beijing, China.
The New York gathering, underway at the UN headquarters, ends March 11. — IPS