Women
Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape of women, which is punishable by life imprisonment or death. The law does not address spousal rape. The law defines rape as “unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or a girl without her consent.” Men accused of raping men are tried using a law that prohibits “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature.” The law also criminalizes domestic violence and provides up to two years’ imprisonment upon conviction.
Rape remained a common problem throughout the country, and the government did not effectively enforce the law. Local media and human rights activists reported numerous incidents of rape, sometimes involving kidnapping and killings of women, but authorities were often unable to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable. Local media often reported that perpetrators of rape included persons in authority, such as religious leaders, local government officials, police, intelligence and military officers, health-care workers, and academic staff (see section 1.c.). According to local media and human rights activists, many rape survivors lacked faith in government institutions to bring their abusers to justice and declined to report the crime, while others remained silent to avoid stigmatization. Human rights activists and local media reported that, even when women reported cases of rape to police, officers blamed the women for causing the rape by dressing indecently, took bribes from the alleged perpetrators to stop the investigation and to pressure the survivors into withdrawing the cases, or simply dismissed the accusations and refused to record them. The Centre for Health Human Rights and Development, Foundation for Male Engagement, and police reported that police personnel lacked the required skills for collection, preservation, and management of forensic evidence in sexual violence cases. Local media reported that some police stations lacked women officers on the staff, which discouraged rape survivors from reporting their cases. Local media and human rights activists reported that women with disabilities, especially blind women and women with mental disabilities, were at a disproportionately higher risk for rape and other forms of gender-based violence (see section 6, Persons with Disabilities). Freedom and Roam Uganda reported that lesbians and transgender women suffered gender-based violence and rape in a reported attempt to change their sexuality (see section 6, Violence against LGBTQI+ Persons).
On April 21, NUP supporter Alexandria Marinos told a press conference that CMI officers had arrested her in March after she was found playing Kyagulanyi’s music at her shop and detained her for two days at CMI headquarters in Mbuya where they tortured and raped her. She named a civilian with links to CMI, Erias Sengooba, and CMI officer Ali Hassan Matovu, respectively, of raping and torturing her. She displayed images of burn scars on her buttocks, which she stated were inflicted during her torture. The military refuted her claims and stated Marinos made up the allegations to benefit unjustly from the government’s compensation of torture victims or to seek asylum abroad. The military spokesperson stated Marinos had a long-running relationship with the two accused going back to 2020. Sengooba stated Marinos was his neighbor and friend whom he occasionally offered financial support. The military displayed Marinos’ telephone call records from March 27 until April 4, noting that she made numerous telephone calls during the days she was allegedly in detention, which they stated would be impossible for a detainee.
The minister of gender, labor and social development complained that judicial officers denied justice to victims of gender-based violence by choosing to pursue out-of-court settlements or by delaying adjudication. In September judicial officials introduced special month-long court sessions to hear exclusively gender-based violence cases to increase access to justice for victims.
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): The law prohibits FGM/C and establishes a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for convicted perpetrators, or life imprisonment if the victim dies. The government did not effectively enforce the law. According to the 2016 Demographics and Health Survey, the latest available, 0.3 percent of the female population younger than age 50 had undergone FGM/C. Local media and government officials reported, however, that the practice was common among some communities along the eastern border with Kenya. Government health officials reported that some parents in the Karamoja and Sebei regions waited until teenage girls returned home during school holidays and then subjected them to FGM/C. Civil society organizations alleged that some families threatened to punish girls who report instances of FGM/C to authorities, leaving many cases to go unreported. Civil society organizations also reported that community elders, predominantly women, who conducted FGM/C procedures, continued the practice because they did not have alternative livelihoods to replace the 15,000-to-30,000-shilling ($4 to $8) payment from each procedure. Local government officials reported that community leaders continued to smuggle girls into Kenya – where law enforcement operations were allegedly lax – to undergo the procedure. Police reported that officers carried out community sensitization efforts to encourage behavior change. Civil society organizations reported that they worked with government to identify and relocated girls who were at risk of FGM/C to shelters.
Other Forms of Gender-based Violence: In November the UN Committee Against Torture stated it “deplore[d] that incidents of gender-based violence are still reported with domestic violence being the top crime, in 2021, according to the annual crime police report.” According to local media and human rights activists, violence against widows was prevalent. Local media reported that many widows in remote areas experienced sexual violence at the hands of their deceased husband’s family and lost their rights to property (see section 6, Women, Discrimination). Human rights activists reported that in some rural and remote areas, widows were chased away from their matrimonial homes by their deceased husband’s families and were rendered homeless because their own families could not take them back after they had accepted the bride price from the husband’s family.
Sexual Harassment: The law criminalizes sexual harassment and provides for penalties of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, but authorities did not effectively enforce the law. Sexual harassment was a widespread problem in homes, schools, universities, workplaces, public transport, public spaces, media, and in the music and entertainment industry. Local media reported numerous incidents of senior executives and public servants in the legislature and judiciary who demanded sexual favors from female subordinates in exchange for job retention, promotion, and nomination for official trips. In May popular musician Sheebah Karungi reported that an unidentified senior official, who was guarded by the military’s SFC, had sexually harassed her at a private party at which he had hired her to perform. She stated that the official confronted her in her car and inappropriately touched her. On May 18, police stated that Sheebah identified the official in her complaint. Police had not revealed findings of their investigations by year’s end.
Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities.
Human rights activists reported that although persons with disabilities had the right to access reproductive services, the absence of health workers with the ability to communicate with blind and deaf patients meant that many persons with disabilities did not receive sufficient information regarding reproductive health services. Human rights activists also reported that many women with disabilities depended on close family members for access to sexual and reproductive health services that limited their ability to make free choices regarding their sexual health. Women with disabilities told local media that public health facilities lacked adjustable gurneys, which hampered access. Local media also reported that some public health workers declined to attend to pregnant women with disabilities unless they employed a personal caretaker. Human rights activists reported that LGBTQI+ persons were able to provide informed consent before receiving reproductive health treatment, although many lesbians, bisexual, and queer women preferred to access sexual and reproductive health services at LGBTQI+ drop-in centers as they found public health facilities not tailored to their needs. Human rights activists reported that some public health officials declined to provide health care, including reproductive health services, to LGBTQI+ persons.
Human rights activists and government officials reported that cultural practices in some remote areas impeded access to sexual and reproductive health services for women. They reported that men in some rural and remote areas refused to use contraception and in turn also prohibited their partners from accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Human rights activists reported that many public health service providers declined to provide sexual and reproductive health services to teenagers, particularly those age 17 and younger, because they had not attained the age of consent. This practice led to many cases of teenage pregnancies and a rise in HIV infection among teenage girls.
Human rights activists reported that Family and Child Protection Units at police stations provided postexposure prophylaxis for rape survivors but often referred survivors to shelters for emergency contraception.
Maternal mortality was 375 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Media attributed the high rate to an inability of pregnant women to access skilled medical care, a preference for traditional birth attendants over skilled medical workers, and unsafe abortions. Local media reported that a government directive that required health facilities to provide detailed accounts of the circumstances surrounding each maternal-related death led health facilities to decline admitting cases they considered to be in critical condition, which denied emergency healthcare to expectant mothers. According to the WHO, adolescent birth rates were high, at 111.4 per 1,000 girls for the period 2011 to 2020, the most recent period for which data were available. According to human rights activists and the WHO, the elevated adolescent pregnancy rate was caused by statutory rape, child sexual exploitation, a high rate of school dropouts, and limited knowledge of contraception among teenagers.
There were social and cultural barriers related to menstruation and access to menstruation hygiene that impacted girls’ ability to participate equally in society, including many limits on girls’ access to education. Many girls in school suffered stigmatization and bullying due to the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products, which caused higher instances of dropouts. Local media and child rights activists reported that girls who became pregnant while in school almost always dropped out of school. According to child rights activists, public and private schools dismissed and declined to readmit girls who became pregnant. The government requires that all girls who become pregnant while in school undergo mandatory maternity leave at three months of the pregnancy and return to school six months after delivery. The policy requires that a boy responsible for the pregnancy simultaneously drop out of school until the girl returns. Human rights activists reported that teenage mothers who returned to school after giving birth quickly dropped out due to stigma and because schools lacked the capacity to cater to the needs of lactating mothers.
Discrimination: The law provides women the same legal status and rights as men, but the government did not enforce the law effectively. Human rights activists reported numerous cases of discrimination against women, including in divorce, employment, education, and owning or managing businesses and property. Many customary laws discriminate against women in adoption, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Following customary laws in many areas, widowed women cannot own or inherit property or retain custody of their children. Human rights activists reported that lesbians, transgender, and queer women were at a higher risk of discrimination at public health facilities. Traditional divorce law in many areas requires women to meet stricter evidentiary standards than men to prove adultery. In some ethnic groups, men can “inherit” the widows of their deceased brothers. The law does not recognize cohabiting relationships, and women involved in such relationships had no judicial recourse to protect their rights.
Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination
The law prohibits discrimination and violence based on race, ethnicity, religion, origin, social or economic standing, political opinion, and disability, but the government did not enforce the law effectively. Members of parliament, human rights activists, and local media reported that security officers and vigilantes associated with Second Deputy Prime Minister General Moses Ali, from the Madi ethnic community, continued harassing and evicting members of the Acholi community from disputed land in Apaa village in the northern part of the country so he could establish a private game reserve. Local media reported in January that four residents of Apaa were killed in an attack on the village. A Ministry of Internal Affairs statement in February blamed the violence in Apaa on unnamed local political leaders, whom it accused of inciting the Madi and Acholi communities to attack each other. On June 6, local media reported that vigilantes raided Apaa, set 200 households on fire, and left 27 persons injured. The military and police blocked political leaders from accessing the village, reportedly to prevent exacerbating community tensions. On June 9, local media reported that President Museveni warned politicians against inciting community violence. He also promised to carry through with his 2021 promise to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the land dispute but had not done so by year’s end.
Indigenous Peoples
Some Indigenous minorities continued to accuse the government of marginalization that excluded them from participating in decisions affecting their livelihood. Human rights activists reported that the government had not granted official recognition to several Indigenous communities, which led to political exclusion, limited access to social services, and limited access to livelihood resources. Human rights activists reported that the government only partially compensated and resettled Batwa and Benet communities whom it evicted from their ancestral lands to create wildlife protection areas in the eastern and southwestern parts of the country. Human rights activists reported that the government had not resettled many members of the Batwa and Benet communities nor issued land titles to those whom it had resettled, thus restricting their access to land for livelihood. According to local media, Benet communities, who were yet to be resettled, moved back into Mount Elgon National Park where Uganda Wildlife Authority game rangers forcefully re-evicted them.
Children
Birth Registration: The law accords citizenship to children born inside or outside the country if at least one parent or grandparent is a citizen at the time of birth. Abandoned children younger than age 18 with no known parents are considered citizens, as are children younger than age 18 adopted by citizens.
The law requires citizens to register a birth within three months. Lack of birth registration generally did not result in denial of public services, although some primary schools, especially those in urban centers, required birth certificates for enrollment. Enrollment in public secondary schools, universities, and other tertiary institutions required birth certificates.
Education: The law provides for compulsory education through the completion of primary school by age 13, and the government provided tuition-free education in select public primary and secondary schools (age six to age 18). Parents, however, were required to provide lunch and schooling materials for their children, and many parents could not afford such expenses. Local media and civil society organizations reported that child, early, and forced marriages and teenage pregnancy led to a higher rate of school dropouts for girls than for boys (see section 6, Women, Reproductive Rights). Some schools – particularly those managed by religious institutions – did not allow pregnant girls to return to school. While primary school enrollment remained high, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ 2021 research, only 27 percent of secondary school age children were enrolled in school. The government fully reopened schools on January 10, ending the 21-month school closure imposed as part of COVID-19 countermeasures. During this period, almost 6 million children in lower primary grades were unschooled.
Human rights activists reported that children from the Benet and Batuku indigenous communities were forced by local education authorities to undertake school instruction in the languages spoken by their larger neighboring ethnic groups, a practice they believed threatened their culture.
Child Abuse: The law prohibits numerous forms of child abuse and provides for monetary fines, five years’ imprisonment, or both for persons convicted of abusing children’s rights. Victims’ parents, however, often opted to settle cases out of court for a cash or in-kind payment. Corporal punishment in schools is illegal. In November the UN Committee Against Torture stated it was “concerned at reports that confirm that ‘reasonable chastisement’ is still recognized under common law and corporal punishment is not explicitly prohibited in all settings.”
Despite the law, a pattern of child abuse existed in sexual assault, physical abuse, ritual killings, early marriage, FGM/C, child trafficking, infanticide, and child labor, among other abuses. According to the Statistics Bureau’s 2021 research, 71 percent of children ages 10 to 14 experienced physical violence in the 12 months prior to the survey. On September 2, social media footage emerged of a woman beating a two-year-old child with a sandal on numerous occasions across the head, arms, legs, and back for failing to bathe, sparking public outrage. On September 3, police announced the arrest of Dorothy Nabulime, age 22, whom they identified as the woman in the video. On September 5, the public prosecutor charged Nabulime with cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of a child. Nabulime pled guilty. On September 14, the court sentenced her to 18 months in prison.
Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age for marriage is 18, but authorities generally did not enforce this law. Child marriages were prevalent and became even more so during school closures introduced as COVID-19 countermeasures. In June the government launched its second strategic plan to end child marriage and teenage pregnancy. Local media, human rights activists, political leaders, and police reported that some rural and remote communities in the southwestern part of the country forced teenage girls into marriage, sometimes even forcefully kidnapping them. Officials also noted that parents married off girls they could not financially support in return for money. Numerous government officials in the central and local governments regularly joined efforts led by child rights activists and cultural leaders to speak out and sensitize communities against child marriages. District probation officers at local governments also supported efforts led by child rights activists to rescue children from forced marriages and keep them in shelters before their gradual reintegration into communities. On August 9, police launched an investigation into an attempted forced marriage that became public after a video was widely circulated on social media showing a group of six men grabbing a girl, age 14, and forcing her into a waiting car. According to police, the girl’s aunt and mother were promised money to take her to a man, age 55, waiting to marry the child. On August 15, police released a statement noting that it had rescued the girl, referred her to a shelter for psychosocial support, and arrested four men on kidnapping charges. Police had not reported whether they filed charges by year’s end.
Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibits commercial sexual exploitation, the sale and procurement of sexual services, and practices related to child pornography. It sets the minimum age for consensual sex at 18. The law defines “statutory rape” as any sexual contact outside marriage with a child younger than 18, regardless of consent or age of the perpetrator. The government did not enforce the law effectively, however, and the problem was pervasive. Research from the Statistics Bureau, conducted in 2020, found that 59 percent of women experienced sexual violence before age 15. Civil society organizations, authorities, and media reported an increase in sexual exploitation of children. From 2019 to 2021, there was a 22 percent increase in pregnancy among girls and women age 10 to 24 and a 366 percent increase in reported pregnancies in girls and women age 15 to 19. The Statistics Bureau also found that one in five children who had used social media were victims of sexual harassment, including almost 25 percent of girls.
Infanticide, Including Infanticide of Children with Disabilities: The law criminalizes infanticide, including of children with disabilities, but authorities sporadically enforced the law. Local media reported that intersex children were at high risk of infanticide and that some parents of children with disabilities abandoned them in the bush or threw them in pit latrines to die. Local media also reported incidents where individuals kidnapped and killed children to use their organs for harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks. Child rights activists reported cases in which wealthy entrepreneurs and politicians paid traditional healers to sacrifice children to ensure their continued wealth and then bribed police officers to stop the investigations. Media reported in February that police had arrested a pastor and four others for the ritual killing of a boy, age six, in the eastern part of the country. The case continued at year’s end.
Displaced Children: Local civil society organizations and media reported that poverty and famine drove families in the remote northeastern Karamoja region to send many children to Kampala to find work and beg on the streets. Civil society organizations reported that traffickers often manipulated families in Karamoja to sell their children for 50,000 shillings ($14) with promises the children would obtain a good education or a profitable job. Instead, traffickers forced the children to beg on the streets of Kampala or other major cities or work in domestic servitude and gave them almost none of the proceeds. Kampala City authorities worked with civil society organizations to return Karamojong street children to their families, but often the families soon returned the children to the streets because families could not afford to care for them. Local media and child rights activists also reported increased numbers of homeless children in other towns, such as Mbale, Lira, and Gulu, where a lack of rehabilitation facilities frustrated local government efforts to remove the children from the streets. In July Kampala City authorities introduced a new law which criminalizes giving money, food, or clothing to children on the street.
Antisemitism
The Jewish population numbered approximately 2,000 members centered in Mbale District, in the eastern part of the country. There were no reports of antisemitic acts.
Trafficking in Persons
See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking in-persons-report/.
Organ Harvesting
Police, local media, and activists reported that organized criminal groups carried out organ harvesting. Police, local media, and human rights activists reported that some workers who signed up with labor recruitment companies to work in the Middle East and Arabian Gulf countries had their organs, especially kidneys and livers, harvested. In January local media reported that Judith Nakintu, a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, had her right kidney harvested without her consent. Local media reported that Saudi court documents noted that Nakintu sustained injuries to her liver, lungs, and kidneys in a vehicle accident and the court awarded her 270 million shillings ($73,300) in damages. The police medical unit, however, reported that Nakintu’s right kidney had been harvested. Police also reported that Nakintu’s employers took Nakintu to ostensibly secure a COVID-19 vaccine but instead had her right kidney harvested in an operation that left her paralyzed on the right side. On February 26, local media reported that the public prosecutor charged five employees of the firm that had recruited Nakintu with three counts of aggravated organ trafficking. A court later remanded them to Kitalya Prison and the trial continued at year’s end.
Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics
Criminalization: Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is illegal according to a colonial-era law that criminalizes “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” and provides for a penalty of up to life imprisonment. Although the government did not directly enforce this law, it used this provision indirectly to restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ persons.
Violence against LGBTQI+ Persons: Human rights activists reported instances of nonstate actor violence against LGBTQI+ persons and noted that authorities did not adequately investigate the cases. On September 10, human rights activists reported that a mob raped and beat a transgender woman after an acquaintance lured her out of her house. Human rights activists reported that police registered the case but did not report findings of their investigations by year’s end. Human rights activists reported that lesbians and transgender women suffered gender-based violence and rape allegedly aimed at changing their sexuality (see Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices Specifically Targeting LGBTQI+ Individuals below).
Discrimination: The law prohibits discrimination based on sex, among other categories, but does not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. The law does not recognize LGBTQI+ individuals, couples, or their families. Human rights activists reported that LGBTQI+ persons suffered stigma and faced discrimination in access to healthcare, employment, housing, and other social services. Human rights activists reported that families disowned LGBTQI+ persons and expelled them from households, which left many homeless and led others to conceal their sexual orientation. In May human rights activists reported that when two employees of the LGBTQI+ advocacy organization SMUG reported to police that an individual had vandalized their office, police instead accused them of assaulting the individual, arrested them, and refused to investigate their complaint. On June 8, the public prosecutor charged them with assault and the court released them on bail. Their trial continued at year’s end.
Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: The country did not permit individuals to change their gender identity marker on legal and identifying documents to bring them into alignment with their gender identity. The law also did not provide the option of identifying as “non-binary/intersex/gender non-conforming.” Human rights activists reported that transgender persons could officially change their names, but government officials blocked them from changing their gender marker on official documents. One individual, however, Cleopatra Kambugu, legally changed her gender identity marker to female in 2021.
Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices Specifically Targeting LGBTQI+ Individuals: Human rights activists reported that LGBTQI+ persons endured intense social pressure to change their sexual orientation. Activists reported that some families had LGBTQI+ children undergo counseling sessions with religious leaders or compelled their LGBTQI+ children into arranged and forced marriages in an attempt to change their sexual orientation. Some government officials openly encouraged attempts to change the sexual orientation of LGBTQI+ persons.
Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly: The government restricted LGBTQI+ organizations’ ability to legally register and operate. Authorities used provisions of the Companies Act to restrict or deny the registration of LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations due to allegations that the proposed names of the organizations were undesirable and their activities unlawful (see section 2.b.). On August 3, officials in the NGO Bureau instructed SMUG to halt operations because it was neither incorporated at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau nor registered with the NGO Bureau, both of which are a requirement for all nonprofit organizations. The suspension of SMUG remained in effect at year’s end. Numerous other LGBTQI+ organizations reported that the NGO Bureau declined their registration applications, even after they had secured incorporation at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and threatened to halt their operations.
Persons with Disabilities
The law criminalizes discrimination of persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities but persons with disabilities could not access education and health services on an equal basis with others. The law provides for access on an equal basis to education, employment, health services, information, communications, buildings, transportation, and the judicial system for persons with disabilities, but the government did not effectively enforce the law. According to disability rights activists, persons with disabilities lacked equitable access to public buildings and transportation. Activists reported that many public schools, hospitals, and courts lacked ramps to enable access for persons with disabilities. Although the government’s information office, Uganda Media Centre, employed a sign-language interpreter whenever public officers used the office to make official communications, the UHRC reported that many other government agencies did not provide the service. Human rights activists reported that many persons with a disability in rural or remote areas failed to access COVID-19 vaccines because the government had located vaccination centers in urban areas, which were not easily accessible for persons with disabilities.
Human rights activists reported that authorities failed to protect persons with disabilities from harassment and violence from some sections of the community. Activists reported that many police and local government officials lacked knowledge of the specific needs of persons with disabilities, especially persons with mental illness, and many times encouraged and participated in harassment. Human rights activists also reported that persons with disabilities experienced discrimination in social service delivery and employment, while women with disabilities were at higher risk of rape and sexual harassment than women without disabilities (see section 6, Women, Rape and Domestic Violence).
According to the latest Ministry of Education statistics from 2016, 2 percent of elementary school students were children with disabilities while the rate in secondary schools was 0.6 percent. Human rights activists reported that many parents of children with disabilities in rural and remote areas hid them from the public and denied them an education due to the perception it would bring shame to the family.
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
Mob violence was prevalent. Communities often resorted to mob violence due to a lack of confidence in police and the judiciary to deliver justice. They attacked and killed persons suspected of robbery, homicide, rape, theft, ritual sacrifice, and witchcraft, among other offenses. Mobs often beat, lynched, burned, and otherwise brutalized their victims. On July 28, local media reported that a mob in Fort Portal town lynched and burned the corpse of a man suspected of a killing and theft. Police stated they would investigate the killing but did not reveal any findings by year’s end.
HIV-related stigma and discrimination was a concern in some employment situations. Police, the prisons service, and the military regularly refused to recruit persons living with HIV and AIDS, claiming their bodies would be too weak for the rigorous training and subsequent deployment. According to local media, labor export companies required applicants seeking work in Arabian Gulf countries to undergo HIV tests and refused to hire persons living with HIV and AIDS. Civil society organizations also reported that employers declined to employ persons living with HIV and AIDS as domestic workers.