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II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To protect women from violence in the home, prosecute those responsible, and create an environment in which women can protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, we urge the Ugandan government, donors, and regional and international organizations to undertake the following actions:

To the Government of Uganda

Legal and Policy Reform

• Enact and enforce laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination against women to bring Ugandan practices into accord with international human rights standards and constitutional provisions.

• Amend or repeal all laws that violate women’s rights in marriage including discriminatory provisions under the Divorce Act.

• Eliminate provisions of the Domestic Relations Bill and the Sexual Offences (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill that hold husbands immune from prosecution for marital rape and amend the bills to provide for a legal cause of action for rape within marriage.

• With the above amendments, enact without delay the Domestic Relations Bill and the Sexual Offences (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill.

• Amend the Land Act to provide for spousal co-ownership of land and to require subsequent registration of land in the names of both spouses. Include separated and abandoned women within land or family legislation. Implement sector-wide reforms in accordance with the Land Sector Strategic Plan 2001-2011 (LSSP).

• Amend the Succession Act to ensure equal inheritance rights for widows and widowers in intestate succession.

• Sign and ratify the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Take all necessary legislative, administrative, social, and economic measures to protect women from all forms of violence in the private and public spheres as provided for under article 4.

Institutional and Programmatic Reform

• Make domestic violence a central component of efforts to reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS under the National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS Activities: 2000/1-2005/6, and other national HIV/AIDS programs.

• Collect and disseminate comprehensive national statistics on domestic violence detailing the nature and degree of violence, rates of prosecution and conviction, and the nature of punishment applicable, in a timely and transparent manner.

• Launch awareness campaigns informing the public about domestic violence and its intersection with HIV/AIDS, and the health risks of harmful traditional practices, as part of the HIV/AIDS national strategy. Work with the media to distribute information in local languages and engage traditional healers in the dissemination of health information.

• Disseminate plain-language information on the laws concerning marriage and divorce.

• Improve the distribution of male condoms. Improve distribution and access to female condoms. Increase awareness of HIV reinfection.

• Support the administration of a short and affordable course of antiretroviral drugs following HIV exposure (post-exposure prophylaxis or PEP) for survivors of rape and sexual coercion to reduce the risk of HIV infection.

• Establish a clear and deliberate domestic violence policy within the justice system (police, local councils, and courts). Issue guidelines and provide training on appropriate responses to domestic violence. Disseminate information within the justice system on women’s rights under Ugandan and international laws including article 33 of the constitution. Investigate and prosecute corruption within the justice system as a whole, and specifically with regard to the illegal imposition of fees to facilitate the filing of complaints and the collection of forensic evidence.

• Establish clear and explicit guidelines for police intervention in cases of domestic violence including standardized arrest policies for perpetrators and the separate categorization of domestic violence in police records. Train the police in appropriate investigative methodology applicable to cases of domestic violence, including techniques for interviewing victims, and methods for protecting victims and witnesses from harassment. Encourage the employment of female police officers. Increase the numbers of police medical examiners/police surgeons.

• Develop standardized protocols and provide training for medical personnel on the management of domestic violence victims focusing on relevant medicolegal methodology and principles, the psychological impact of domestic violence on victims, and the legal significance of medical evidence in these cases. Establish strict procedures for reporting of domestic violence cases to the police. Encourage referrals to legal aid providers and shelters. Investigate corruption in government health units and hospitals.

• Provide support to NGOs that work on domestic violence. Establish domestic violence and HIV/AIDS campaigns specifically targeting men. Prioritize the provision of shelters for abused women and their dependent children with the assistance of NGOs working with survivors of domestic violence. Support programs that provide legal assistance and counseling services for women.

• Support skills building, training, and employment programs for women. Further strengthen women’s equal property rights in accordance with objectives laid out in the Poverty Eradication Action Plan. Account for the specific needs of women farmers in the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) and the National Agricultural Advisory Services system. Use PMA grants to train women in agricultural techniques, sensitize communities on women’s ownership of land, and disseminate information on the Land Act.

• Support the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in achieving the objectives contained in the National Action Plan On Women, 1999, particularly those aimed at improving women’s health and mitigating violence against women.

To Donors and Regional and International Organizations:

• The secretary-general of the United Nations, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNHCHR should engage in widespread advocacy in Africa and internationally on the links between domestic violence and HIV/AIDS and stress the incorporation of a rights-based approach in HIV/AIDS programming.

• UNAIDS and UNDP programs operating in Uganda should examine the role of domestic violence in furthering the AIDS epidemic. UNDP-Uganda should maintain an emphasis on gender and HIV/AIDS pursuant to the Second Country Cooperation Framework for Uganda (2001-2005).

• Donors and international organizations should engage with the Ugandan government and promote the immediate adoption and enactment of the Domestic Relations Bill and the Sexual Offences (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill. Donors should push the Ugandan government to provide for spousal co-ownership of land.

• Donors should encourage the Ugandan government to include the specific needs of women at risk of HIV infection in broader HIV/AIDS programming and help to develop governmental and NGO programs to address domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.

• Donors should provide financial and technical assistance to civil society organizations offering legal services and medical assistance to women; contribute to training law enforcement and judicial personnel; and support the establishment of shelters, the acquisition of forensic equipment, and the employment of police surgeons.

• Donors should target assistance to groups providing social and economic services to women and girls, particularly those that focus on job training and assistance with property and inheritance rights.

• Donors should expand prevention options for women and girls, especially accelerated support for the development of microbicides and other female-controlled prevention technologies. Donors should support expanded treatment for women, including post-exposure prophylaxis for rape victims.

• Donors should support media providing rights-based and health programming. Donors should fund preventative projects that aim to change the attitudes and behavior that perpetuate domestic violence and women’s vulnerability to HIV infection, and encourage the development of an environment that protects and promotes women’s right to life free of violence.

• The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the G8 Action Plan should integrate a women’s rights focus in all aspects of implementation, support prevention efforts aimed at examining women’s vulnerability to HIV and violence, and increase collaboration with donor agencies and African women’s groups.