UNITE!

End Violence against women and girls in Makerere University

1. Introduction:

Makerere University, School of Women and Gender Studies will join the rest of the world in
celebrating 16 days of Activism to end Violence against women and girls in Makerere
University. The student-led campaign will run from 25th November, 2022 to 13th December,
2022. The student-led campaign will advance a united effort towards ending the vice, and will
include a series of activities whose intention will be to capture a large proportion of the target
audience, primarily females living a public life, and those in universities. The campaign activities
will include an Inter-College-Debate, a twitter Space Conversation, and a movie screening by the
poolside.

2. Background and literature review:

One in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate
partner. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and
long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating,
including death (UNWomen 2021). Violence negatively affects women’s general well-being and
prevents women from fully participating in society. It impacts their families, their community,
and the country at large. It has tremendous costs, from greater strains on health care to legal
expenses and losses in productivity.

Makerere University has not been spared from incidences of violence against women and girls
within its public, academic and political spheres with embarrassing revelations of Sexual
harassment in the late 2010’s on and off campus premises. Asset mapping and conversations
with students and staff showed that sexual harassment was incredibly prevalent on the University
campus, despite the fear and stigma surrounding discussing the situation. The University’s
response to this critical issue had been virtually non-existent, as the then sexual harassment
policy was, for the most part, unknown to the public and not had not been effectively
implemented. Furthermore, the resources meant to be in place for handling survivors of sexual
harassment, assault and rape were found to be greatly failing. Almost all University Committees
that were supposed to have been organized, as per the 2006 Sexual Harassment Policy, to
manage sexual harassment cases were nonexistent. Worse still, it is alleged that the only
Committee that was ever organized, had some members who were suspected to be sexual
harassers (CEDOVIP, 2018)

With the aim of ending all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030, the European
Union and the United Nations have been collaborating since 2017 to empower, promote, and
protect the rights of women and girls worldwide (UNWomen, 2021). The UN Secretary-General
expressed concerns about ‘increasing levels of violence perpetrated against women in public
life,’ which seek ‘to stop women from accessing power and silence them so as to limit their
perspectives in policy formulation,’ in his 2021 preparatory note at the UN Commission on the
Status of Women which brings together international organizations, governments, politicians,
and activists from around the world (E-International Relations, 2021).

Makerere University, Kampala has equally made efforts towards ending violence against women
and girls through multipronged academic and social endeavors. In 2018, the University passed
the Anti-Sexual harassment policy to protect the University Community against Sexual
harassment (https://policies.mak.ac.ug/). The University also ran a two-year student led
campaign against Sexual harassment dubbed the Two for One Talent for Change Campaign that
involved the collaborative efforts of both male and female students in ending Sexual harassment
on Campus using creative performing talents. The campaign impacted over 5000 students (
https://two4onecampaign.mak.ac.ug). For this year’s celebration, the School of Women and
Gender Studies will run a student led campaign to, targeted to end violence against women and
girls in public and political life, with emphasis on journalists and women politicians, in
celebration of the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

3. Justification:
The MeToo Campaign, combined with rapidly evolving digital technologies have brought to life
the reality of physical, psychological, and all other forms of violence against women and girls,
sexual and Gender Based within public spaces. Digital technology has equally provided a fertile
environment for its perpetuation, ‘gendered disinformation’, which reinforces the vice. These
attacks draw on gendered, and often sexualized, tropes to spread false or misleading rumors
aimed at humiliating and discrediting their potential victims, prominently women in public life.
Often, when women report their experiences, they are met with disbelief, denial, or sometimes
they are accused of having attracted the vice upon themselves.
The first task is to reject arguments that violence is simply a ‘normal’ part of the public and
political process, and instead, recognize the serious threats posed by this problem to democracy,
human rights, and gender equality. Only then will it be possible to support women’s full, equal,
and safe participation in public and political life around the globe.
Thus, it is very important to raise awareness about the vice, and the options people should take to
deal with the vice.
4. Goal:
To raise awareness on the presence of violence against women and girls in Public Universities
and in Public life, and how they should address them.
4.1. Specific Objectives:
1. To generate a common understanding on violence against women in universities and in
public life.
2. To initiate a conversation about gender-based violence against women in universities and
in public life.
3. To create an environment where participants will share experiences about gender-based
violence and how they overcame it.
4. To increase peer to peer advocacy towards ending violence against women and girls in
the University, and in public life.
5. To create and build collaborative solidarity between male and female students on ending
violence against women and girls in public and political space in the University.

6. Target audience:
The campaign will primarily target Makerere University male and female students
engaged in politics and public life. The male counterparts will equally play a significant
part in the campaign.

7. Intended Outcomes:
a. Increased awareness and knowledge on sexual and gender-based violence
b. Increased confidence of potential victims to report and seek justice for sexual and
gender-based violations
c. Policy review and improvement arising from the implementation gaps identified
by those seeking justice. This should equally lead to an improvement in grievance
handling mechanisms
d. Increased capacity for witness protection, from both peers and staff mandated to
handle cases against sexual and gender-based violence
e. Change in social norms and behavior, creating a safe environment for female
students (and eventually staff) to excel in their academic, social and political
participation at Makerere University.