NEWS
Ugandan efforts against sexual
violence on campuses
Carpet Grades' Are Target of Ugandan Bias Policy
By Rachel Scheier
WeNews correspondent
KAMPALA, Uganda (WOMENSENEWS)--The miniskirts worn by undergraduates at
Makerere University have been blamed for everything from AIDS to the
disintegration of the African family.
That's one reason why eyebrows were raised when a handful of activists
suggested that young female college students were more often victims,
thanks to their sexuality, than the other way around.
The practice of male lecturers at Makerere demanding sex from female
students in exchange for diplomas and "carpet" grades--indicating where
the transaction takes place--is well known. But recently, some
administrators and women's advocates at the university quietly drafted a
sexual harassment policy to address the problem. If it is
approved--which could happen as soon as May--it would be among the first
of its kind in an African institution of higher learning.
"This is an issue that we have just started talking about in Uganda,"
said Maria Gorette Karuhanga, a human rights lawyer who helped draft the
policy. "In the absence of any document--any legal policy--people have
no basis to challenge anything. This is also a challenge to the
administration to address this problem, which is tarnishing the image of
the university."
Makerere, once known as the Harvard of Africa, is the alma mater of
generations of prominent names from around the continent. But the
university fell into disrepair during the 1970s, when dictator Idi Amin
took power in Uganda, and it has yet to regain its stature. While some
programs are still prestigious, Makerere undergraduates must endure
overcrowded classes and second-rate facilities. Lost exams and delayed
diplomas are common.
Education Financed With Sugar
On a recent afternoon, the rolling, eucalyptus-dotted hills of the
Makerere campus were crowded with students rushing to class. On the
walls of the canteen, where some sat munching french fries, was a sign
posted by an AIDS prevention group admonishing, "Say No to Sugar
Daddies," a reference to another well-known practice of young female
students taking older, richer boyfriends to pay for tuition, books and
mobile phones.
In 2004, an affirmative action program for women at the university won
funding to conduct a survey to gather information on a number of issues,
including sexual harassment. It concluded that while female students at
Makerere were most often the victims of sexual harassment, female
lecturers, secretaries and even maids employed by the college were also
frequently denied promotions, pay and decent treatment if they refused
to have sex with their male superiors. But those who experience sexual
harassment almost always remain silent, it concluded, because they fear
retribution or assume that speaking out is futile.
In a local newspaper story published last year, female students--who
make up about 42 percent of the student body--complained of being
routinely propositioned by lecturers during office hours. One said her
teacher demanded that she accompany him to a Lake Victoria beach to
discuss her grade. Dormitory residents said that custodians are known to
withhold beds if girls don't give them sex. One woman said an admissions
officer would not allow her to enroll in a master's program because she
refused his advances.
Economics are, of course, a major factor in the university social
climate, says Karuhanga, in which sex is often seen as the only ticket
to success a young woman has. Women come from all over Uganda to attend
Makerere, where the great majority of teachers, administrators and other
staff members are men. Many female students are sent by rural families
who barely make enough to feed themselves. Promised scholarship money
often doesn't materialize. Extended families who are struggling to
provide for their own children often can't provide enough.
Sengas Sell Advice to Girls
Karuhanga also attributes the problem to Uganda's deeply patriarchal
culture, which still teaches that men are superior and allowed to demand
what they want. In the tradition of the Baganda, Uganda's largest tribe,
young girls learn about sex from sengas, or aunts. Today, professional
sengas go door to door in the dormitories at Makerere, selling advice,
love potions and charms. They also teach that a proper wife is
submissive to her husband. Tradition discourages women from speaking out
against ill treatment by men.
One of the few who did was a Makerere graduate who later took a job
working as an administrator in the university's school of fine arts. She
had kept silent, she told Karuhanga, when, as a student, she was given a
mediocre grade by a teacher whose invitations she had refused. Several
years later, by now a Makerere employee, she was suspended for
insubordination when she rebuffed her male boss. This time, she
complained to the university disciplinary committee. The case is still
pending, but Karuhanga believes it illustrates why a formal sexual
harassment policy, as well as a campaign to build awareness about the
problem, is needed.
"They were a bit hostile," said Karuhanga. "The assumption is that this
happened because the woman called for it."
If approved, the new policy would generally define sexual harassment as
any unwanted advance. It would put in place a committee of student and
staff representatives to hear complaints confidentially and investigate
allegations. Harassers would be reprimanded, disciplined or dismissed,
depending on the seriousness of the offense.
Lukewarm Response
So far, it has drawn a lukewarm response from the mostly male senior
administrators at Makerere. The proposal is scheduled to go before the
University Senate at its next meeting in May.
"Of course, some of these men are just going to say, 'Oh, these women
are out to get us,'" said Assistant Registrar Evelyn Nyakoojo, one of
the architects of the draft policy. "But we are not attacking anyone. We
don't want to put anyone on the defensive."
On the other hand, the climate may be right to push the issue. Few
employers have formal rules against sexual harassment in Uganda. But
last month, Parliament passed new labor laws for the first time since
the 1970s, after pressure from the United States that threatened to
exclude the country from the African Growth and Opportunities Act, a
program that provides incentives to encourage trade with the U.S. Among
other things, the new legislation outlaws sexual harassment in the
workplace.
Even if the policy is approved, Karuhanga admits, enforcing it will be
another matter. But she believes just getting it on the books will send
an important message. "It will move us a step forward," she said. "This
whole thing is an advocacy tool. For people to know that something is
boiling."
Rachel Scheier is a freelance writer based in Kampala.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.
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For more information:
Makerere University:
http://www.makerere.ac.ug/
Uganda Women's Network:
http://www.uwonet.org
International Network for Higher Education in Africa:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/inhea/profiles.htm
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