{UAH} IDDI AMIN NEVER TARGETED LANGIs/ACHOLIs, THEY TARGETED HIM {---Series One-Hundred and sixty-one}

Friends

 

This "un-Acholi" behavior is attributed to the promotion of the rights of women and children by NGOs and government officials.127 Many clan leaders and LC officials interviewed condone and even justify the beating of women. Some beatings are justified by the explanation of "poor work ethic" on the part of women to maintain the household. Such transgressions can include the failure to cook food on time, do laundry, fetch water, collect firewood, garden, or discipline children properly, leaving the house without the husband's permission, coming home late, sleeping in the daytime or being drunk. Clan leaders and LC officials say beatings are also justified when a woman's behavior toward her husband is offensive. Women confirmed that men felt the aforementioned actions justified beating them. In addition, women reported being beaten for refusing to have sex. The majority of women felt that men had no right to beat them, regardless of the grounds. Clan leaders, in particular, advocate for adherence by women to strict codes of behavior based on traditional, patriarchal values and practices. Women violating these codes within their households are seen as threatening the patriarchal and traditional power relations within a clan and the larger "Acholi culture" as a whole.

When one reads such a paragraph, one must reflect on Peter Simon Okurut that believes that the violent actions in Acholi-land are made by some very few individuals.  Stites Dyan, Mazurana  and Khristopher Carlson of The Feinstein International Center, of The Tufts University, went to Uganda and decided to write a thesis on Acholi violence under a heading Movement on the Margins: Livelihoods and Security in Kitgum District, Northern Uganda. We are posting from page 50.

Ugandans we need to discuss Acholi violence but candidly.

 

VIII. Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the most frequently reported form of violence against women inside IDP camps. Domestic violence is widespread in all IDP camps visited by the Tufts team, but without monitoring and reporting systems in place, actual rates are unknown. Current responses at the local level appear to inhibit reporting of domestic and sexual violence. Some women describe how clan leaders discourage women from reporting incidents of domestic violence; other women do not report domestic violence fearing punishment by local councilors (LCs) and clan leaders if they are found "guilty" and hence the violence justified; others are uncertain as to whom they should report. Among camp and community leaders and local officials, discrepancies exist in defining thresholds of what constitutes violations on the one hand and "Acholi household discipline" on the other.

 

Frequency and Injuries Sustained by Victims of Domestic Violence

The most common form of domestic violence is male heads-of-household beating wives or female domestic partners. The most common injuries women sustain from domestic violence attacks include broken or dislocated arms and legs and cuts to the face, neck and upper body.120 These injuries are sustained by strikes with bare hands, machetes, firewood, chairs, knives and other sharp objects.121 Respondents claim that beatings occur frequently in the camps as they hear women being beaten one to ten times each week.122 Notably, the beating of children was less frequently reported in all camps with children sustaining fewer injuries than women.123 The most serious injuries to children, including death, are reported to occur when children try to protect their mothers from domestic abuse.

 

Causes of Domestic Violence

The reasons for high rates of domestic violence vary according to interviewees, with women, LC officials and clan leaders giving substantially different answers. The majority of women interviewees attribute the beatings to high rates of male drunkenness coupled with strict patriarchal customs imposing subservient behavior upon women. A woman in Agoro said: Drunkards beat their wives. Also, if they don't find their food ready or if a woman talks or responds while a man is talking they can be badly beaten. If a man is talking they think that you should never answer them.124 Interviews with LC officials living in camps confirm that male drunkenness plays a role in beatings of women. Higher rates of male drunkenness were attributed to the stresses of losing their roles as male providers, stress and frustration from living in the camps, and the fact that drinking places are among the only social spaces in the camp.125 Other factors cited in the beating of women include a breakdown of Acholi culture and the collapse of intergenerational transmission of traditional values to youth. Clan leaders claim that women's indifference towards upholding Acholi traditions and refusal to act as proper Acholi women, combined with the propagation of women's rights, are the primary reasons for high rates of domestic violence. Beatings are said to be a result of women increasingly challenging patriarchal household structures, such as "no longer acting as housewives should."126

 

This "unAcholi" behavior is attributed to the promotion of the rights of women and children by NGOs and government officials.127 Many clan leaders and LC officials interviewed condone and even justify the beating of women. Some beatings are justified by the explanation of "poor work ethic" on the part of women to maintain the household. Such transgressions can include the failure to cook food on time, do laundry, fetch water, collect firewood, garden, or discipline children properly, leaving the house without the husband's permission, coming home late, sleeping in the daytime or being drunk. Clan leaders and LC officials say beatings are also justified when a woman's behavior toward her husband is offensive. Women confirmed that men felt the aforementioned actions justified beating them. In addition, women reported being beaten for refusing to have sex. The majority of women felt that men had no right to beat them, regardless of the grounds. Clan leaders, in particular, advocate for adherence by women to strict codes of behavior based on traditional, patriarchal values and practices. Women violating these codes within their households are seen as threatening the patriarchal and traditional power relations within a clan and the larger "Acholi culture" as a whole. The assertion by clan leaders that unruly women are a threat to cultural norms is more than a desire to control female behavior in the household.

 

Clan leaders are relatively marginalized within camps, and are resigned to focus primarily on preserving cultural norms and to serve as advisors and advocates for traditional Acholi custom. They are threatened by outside influences, in particular by the Ugandan government and international organizations that challenge the foundations of patriarchal authority and power at the clan level. As one clan leader described the reasons for women's "un-Acholi behavior": [The government] is coming in and telling women they have rights, and that they can do what they want and not do things when their men tell them to be done.128 Another clan leader explained that the behavior of women results not only in domestic violence but also in the separation of households. Men leave their wives because the women are "unruly," hence creating female-headed or single households: Because of the big-headed women there are femaleheaded households within the camp. This is unusual for us and our culture. The men tell them to take their rights and leave and so they end up living alone in their own households. These rights are something coming from parliament. The LCV [district official] talks about these rights for women. The women can do what they want and not do things when others tell them that they need to be done. Now the women are staying out late, they come home late, they don't tell their husbands where they are going, and when the husband asks where they are going they say that it is their right to go where they want and they don't have to tell the husband where they have been. This is not the way we live.129

 

Seeking Assistance, Protection and Redress:

Local Responses to Domestic Violence Victims of domestic violence often must work with and through LC courts and clan leaders when seeking assistance, protection and resolution. LCs, clan leaders and the police all play a role in responding to domestic violence, although these roles do not necessarily uphold the rights of the victim. LCs are present within IDP camps and can represent a village, parish or sub-county and are linked into the national justice network.130 Within the camps, an LC has jurisdiction over only those people originally from the LC's pre-displacement area or region. Where serious injury is involved, the LCs should refer cases to local police. The LC system can handle cases that do not include serious injury (including domestic violence cases) and make rulings. Sometimes these rulings involve beatings and or fines as punishments against the party deemed responsible for the initial dispute.131 In addition to the LC system, victims of domestic violence may seek help from the clan system and clan leaders.132 Concerning intra-clan affairs, clan leaders traditionally hear disputes regarding domestic violence or killings, and may call for compensation to be paid to the aggrieved party or punishments for offenders. These clan-based reconciliatory methods operate outside formal legal systems, and perpetrators avoid penalties such as jail sentences or capitol punishment. When a woman brings a case of domestic violence to clan leaders or LCs, these leaders determine (through witness testimony or otherwise) which party instigated the violence and whether the woman committed offenses warranting domestic abuse (such as "un-Acholi" behavior). If the woman is found to be at fault she may be punished and beaten. To illustrate, a woman in Labuje camp who was beaten by her husband was found to be guilty of instigating the domestic quarrel; her beating was thus justified. The LC furthermore ruled that she had lied about the incident, and she was subsequently beaten by the LC as punishment both for instigating the quarrel and for lying to the LC.133 Within many areas in Kitgum, it is necessary to provide payment, or compensation, to LC officials to sit and hear disputes. Often this payment is made in alcohol. An LC in Pager has gone so far as to enact by-laws requiring anyone who wishes an audience with the LC to first produce a jerry can of local waragi (distilled liquor). "It is in this way that we resolve cases involving drunkenness," said an LC representative from Pager.

 

He continued: The waragi [local liquor] is beneficial for everyone—it helps us think more clearly and gives us more ideas….Besides, it is necessary for [litigants] to give us alcohol so we have something to do while wasting our time.134 Notably, clan leaders and LCs elsewhere in Kitgum have similar rules and require compensation to hear cases, including cases regarding domestic violence.135 Thus, it is possible that a woman beaten by a drunk husband will have to engage in dangerous livelihood activities (e.g., collect natural resources in areas frequented by armed rebels) in order to generate income to buy or brew alcohol to "pay" the LCs or clan leaders, who will in turn drink the alcohol while hearing her case against a drunken and abusive husband. LCs and clan leaders also set punishments for the man if he is found guilty of domestic violence. In Labuje and Agoro, guilty men are beaten by the LCs, clan leaders or police.136 Interviewees reported that the officially-sanctioned punishment for men for domestic violence was at times effective and described some of the steps taken to deal with the problem. For example, a woman in Labuje explained that perpetrators are dealt with harshly, decreasing the number of incidents:

 

The government representatives told people that wife beating is illegal. If the person is identified he is arrested and taken to the police. They beat him at the police station and teach him the law. The man comes back reformed. I have not seen any man come back from the police station and beat his wife or children again.137 Notably, the use of corporal punishment by LCs, clan leaders and/or the police is illegal under national Ugandan law in Uganda. Some respondents explained that the reporting of cases by women and the ensuing punishments levied on perpetrators by officials have brought negative consequences for the women. "There are indications that cases that are referred to the LCs, the police or to the clans result in more beatings from the husband," one LC said.138 The threat of greater violence has created reluctance in some women to bring cases forward. To illustrate, a woman in Pager explained: At times if a woman is beaten, you can forward the case to the elders who summon the husbands…. Sometimes if [the husbands] are found guilty they are told to lie down and they are canned. Sometimes they refuse [to be canned] and go back and really beat the wives. So, because this happens a lot, most of us have stopped reporting…. Because once this happens the leaders just give up and nothing more is done so the men are even worse.139 Some instances of domestic violence lead to police and LC involvement, as described above. Yet clan leaders in Agoro and Labuje express frustration that women are going to LC officials to file claims of abuse, thereby sidestepping the clan leadership in the process. One clan leader expressed his irritation and said that the "moral authority has been taken away from the clans."140 To address this perceived loss of authority, clan leaders have come to an agreement with LCs within Labuje camp to refer reports of domestic violence to clan leaders. These clan leaders believe that the LCs should not interfere with family matters, including domestic violence.141

 

In Labuje, clan leaders explain that when a woman comes to them with reports of domestic violence they will often lecture the woman about the "appropriate behavior" of Acholi women and encourage the complainant to reconcile with her abuser. Clan leaders also chastise women for taking cases to the LCs or police where they will have to pay for investigation and litigation costs, hence "wasting money that could otherwise be spent on their families."142 Although less likely to be affected by domestic violence, heads of female-headed households are less likely to seek assistance from clan leaders due to the loss of males in their families who would usually take matters to the clan leaders. To illustrate, one women living in Labuje with four children and three grandchildren does not associate with her clan, saying: I do not seek assistance from them because all the elder male members of the family are dead and we no longer have access to [the clan] because of this. I feel a distance (between) myself and the other people of the clan.143

 

Domestic Violence Injuries and Medical Assistance

Women described a number of different factors that affect their ability to access medical assistance after violent attacks. In Agoro, the best option for women is the MSF clinic, where the staff is well trained in responding to domestic and sexual violence. MSF outreach workers are seeking to raise awareness in the community on gender based and sexual violence, but admit that they lack adequate resources to address the scale of the problem.144 If injuries are serious, MSF staff transport victims to the government hospital in Kitgum town.145 In contrast, in Orom it is necessary for victims to report violent incidents to an LC official or camp leader prior to receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained from domestic abuse. This LC or camp official then produces a letter, which the injured person must present to the medical staff in order to receive medical assistance. If a letter is not obtained, the victim must be accompanied by her attacker to the government or MSF clinic to verify the source of the injuries.146 A woman with life-threatening injuries without an official letter or her abuser to collaborate her testimony might only be asked where she would like to be buried if she succumbs to her injuries.147 Despite the obvious constraints the process in Orom places on female victims of domestic abuse, some women interviewed in Orom felt that it was a good system, "because if you have your abuser traveling with you he can maybe help you make it to the clinic if in other cases you would die."148 These women felt that although the current system led to fewer reported incidents, other options did exist, such as pressuring the man's clan to pay for medical costs.149 The prospect of receiving assistance from an abuser's clan seems remote since many clan elders and leaders do little to discourage physical beatings of female partners.

 

However, it is claimed in Orom that if a woman is beaten badly enough, then her natal clan members (i.e., pre-marriage) may carry her to the abuser's clan and insist on medical treatment. If the abuser's clan refuses, she will be left there by her clan, giving the abuser's clan the choice of assisting her or letting her suffer further and possibly die. If she dies, there is possibility for her relatives to engage revenge killings and demand monetary compensation.150 In Labuje, there is confusion as to whom women should go to for assistance in cases of domestic violence. Some women were under the impression that clan leaders refer people to the LCs for assistance in cases of domestic violence. One woman said that: When a woman is beaten she can go to the clan leaders. They [clan leaders] tell her to go to the LCs for assistance and the LCs can refer the case to the police. It is necessary to go to the LCs before the police. But the money is difficult to pay the LCs to get reconciliation, but since it is important to respect this institution [LCs] then it is okay to pay them for the cases However, contrary to this statement, all clan leaders interviewed in Labuje and Pager were upset that LCs were concerning themselves in "domestic issues" and believed the LCs should not interfere with family matters, including domestic violence.152 In Pager village, near Labuje, one elder felt that the LCs, in combination with the camp commander and block leaders, have stripped the clan leaders of representative authority, saying that people within the camps have become dependent upon the camp executive structure (as opposed to the clan system) for guidance and conflict resolution.153

 

 

Stay in the forum for Series One hundred and sixity-two on the way   ------>

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"