{"id":4634,"date":"2009-12-14T16:49:33","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T16:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.africlub.net\/awdf\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2009-12-14T16:49:33","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T16:49:33","slug":"a-human-rights-impact-assessment-of-the-anti-homosexuality-bill-sylvia-tamale-public-dialogue-november-18-2009-makerere-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awdf.org\/OldSite\/a-human-rights-impact-assessment-of-the-anti-homosexuality-bill-sylvia-tamale-public-dialogue-november-18-2009-makerere-university\/","title":{"rendered":"A HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL Sylvia Tamale [Public Dialogue November 18, 2009, Makerere University]"},"content":{"rendered":"

I would like to thank the Human Rights and Peace Centre for inviting me here this afternoon to share my views on this bill.\u00a0 It is great that HURIPEC organized this to be a dialogue <\/em>and not a debate<\/em> because debates have a tendency to polarize and divide along irrational gut-level responses.\u00a0 A dialogue, on the other hand, usefully sets the stage for people to listen to each other with understanding, tolerance and helps build bridges.\u00a0 I hope that this public dialogue will mark the first stepping stone for all of us to embark on a rewarding journey of mutual respect, simple decency and fairness.<\/p>\n

Mr. Chairperson\u2014<\/p>\n

My brief talk this afternoon is divided into four sections:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First, I will address issues of mutual concern that I share with Hon. Bahati;<\/li>\n
  2. Secondly, I will open the window of history and offer us a glimpse of the politics of hatred and discrimination that has affected the struggle for human rights over the years;<\/li>\n
  3. Third, I will highlight the social meaning of the bill; and<\/li>\n
  4. Finally, I shall put on my legal hat and outline the legal implications that this bill holds for our country if passed into law.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. I. <\/strong>Common Issues of Concern<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I have scrutinized the bill thoroughly and the Honourable Member of Parliament David Bahati will be surprised to learn that I share some of his convictions.\u00a0 For example, Hon. Bahati I share your desires as expressed in the preamble to the bill:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. To strengthen the nation\u2019s capacity to deal with emerging internal and external threats to the family unit.\u00a0 It is nevertheless important to point out that most of these can hardly be realized through the regulatory mechanism of the law.<\/li>\n
      2. To protect the cherished culture of the people of Uganda, particularly the positive aspects of it.<\/li>\n
      3. To protect Ugandan children and youth who are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation\u2014whether the abuse is hetero and homosexual.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I do not have the time and space this afternoon to engage in a detailed sociological discussion of the concept that the bill refers to as the \u201cTraditional African Family.\u201d\u00a0 However, it is my humble opinion that the concept needs to be unpacked and scrutinized.\u00a0 Mr. Chairperson as you very well know, Africa is a vast continent with an extremely rich and diverse cultural history.\u00a0 Indeed it would be next to impossible to mark a particular institution as the one and only<\/span> <\/em>\u201cTraditional African Family\u201d.<\/p>\n

        I will cite just a few examples to demonstrate that matrimonial relations among various African communities have differed a great deal:-<\/p>\n

        a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While marriage between first cousins was traditionally taboo among the Baganda, marriages among blood-related kin were considered the best unions among the Bahima here in Uganda;<\/p>\n

        b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is the phenomenon of chigadzamapfihwa<\/em> where the family of a barren wife among the Ndaus of Zimbabwe would \u2018donate\u2019 her brother\u2019s daughter to her husband to become a co-wife and bear children on behalf of the barren woman;<\/p>\n

        c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Practices of non-sexual woman-to-woman marriages among various African customs e.g., the Nandi and Kisii of Kenya, the Igbo of Nigeria, the Nuer of Sudan and the Kuria of Tanzania for purposes of coping with various reproductive, social and economic problems;\u00a0 and<\/p>\n

        d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Levirate marriages where a man inherits his dead brother\u2019s wife were a customary requirement in many African communities.<\/p>\n

        While these may have been cultural practices at some point in our history, it is also important to recognize that family institutions all over the world are undergoing rapid transformation.\u00a0 The changes that we see in this basic unit of society are the result of many factors including, economic crises, an increasing number of working mothers, technological advancements, armed conflicts, natural disasters, globalization, migration, the HIV\/AIDS pandemic, etc.\u00a0 Many of these changes and indeed the evolution of culture cannot be halted, certainly not through law.<\/p>\n

        Perhaps the undisputed value that is a common denominator in all traditional institutions of the family in Africa is the group solidarity that we have embedded in our extended family networks.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the support, stability, love and respect that were the hallmark of this family model are rapidly being eroded and will soon become history.<\/p>\n

        Thus, while I agree with you Hon. Bahati that we must seek ways of dealing with issues that threaten our families, I do not agree that homosexuality is one of those issues.\u00a0 Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and gentlemen, what issues currently threaten our families here in Uganda?\u00a0 I will name a few:<\/p>\n

        a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blood thirsty Ugandans and traditional healers that believe that their good fortune will multiply through rituals of child sacrifice.<\/p>\n

        b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rapists and child molesters who pounce on unsuspecting family members.\u00a0 Research undertaken by the NGO, Hope after Rape (HAR) shows that over 50% of child sexual abuse reports involve children below 10 years of age, and the perpetrators are heterosexual men who are known to the victims.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

        c)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sexual predators that breach the trust placed in them as fathers, teachers, religious leaders, doctors, uncles and sexually exploit young girls and boys.\u00a0 A 2005 report by Raising Voices and Save the Children revealed that 90% of Ugandan children experienced domestic violence and defilement.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

        d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Abusive partners who engage in domestic violence whether physical, sexual or emotional.\u00a0 The 2006 national study on Domestic Violence by the Law Reform Commission confirmed the DV was pervasive in our communities.\u00a0 66% of people in all regions of Uganda reported that DV occurred in their homes and the majority of the perpetrators were \u201cmale heads of households.\u201d[3]<\/a> The Uganda Demographic Health Survey of 2006 put the figure slightly higher at 68%.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

        e)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Parents who force their 14-year old daughters to get married in exchange for bride price and marriage gifts.<\/p>\n

        f)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A whole generation of children who were either born and bred in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or abducted by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in the northern sub-region of Kitgum, Gulu and Pader districts.<\/p>\n

        g)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The millions of children orphaned by HIV\/AIDS.\u00a0 The Uganda Aids Commission puts the cumulative number of orphans due to AIDS at 2 million.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

        h)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The all powerful patriarchs that demand total submission and rule their households with an iron hand.<\/p>\n

        i)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rising poverty levels and growing food insecurity which lead to hunger, disease, suffering and undignified living.\u00a0 Figures from the latest report from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics show that over 60% of Ugandans living in rural areas live below the poverty line.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

        I do not see how two people who are in a loving relationship and harming no one pose a threat to the family simply because they happen to be of the same sex.\u00a0 The argument that homosexuality is a threat to the continuity of humankind and that it will lead to the extinction of human beings in the world simply does not hold water because there are too many heterosexuals in the world for that to become a reality.\u00a0 How many of you in this room would \u201cconvert\u201d to homosexuality any time soon?…\u00a0 So, just as the priests, nuns and monks who are sworn to a life of celibacy will not cause the extinction of humanity, homosexuals will not either.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. II. <\/strong>Lessons from History <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Anyone who cares to read history books knows very well that in times of crisis, when people at the locus of power are feeling vulnerable and their power is being threatened, they will turn against the weaker groups in society.\u00a0 They will pick out a weak voiceless group on whom to heap blame for all society\u2019s troubles\u2014refugees, displaced populations, stateless persons aka illegal immigrants, minorities with no status, children, the poor, the homeless, commercial sex workers, etc.\u00a0 I will offer a few examples to illustrate this point:<\/p>\n