By Leonard Kamugisha AKIDA,
“Its a responsibility of a woman to know what to do in handling children. Go with your child wherever you go not leaving them to whom it may concern,” Ogabirwe emphasized.
Reports by police indicate that over 13,682 children majority of are girls were defiled the year2019.
According to the Police Annual Crime Report2019, findings show defilement still poses a big problem to the Police. In 2019, whereas there was decrease in defilement cases by 11.4% from 2018, a total of 13,682 children were defiled, majority of whom were girl child.
Despite the 11.4% decrease in defilement cases, the report has been a topical debate in main stream and on social media platforms with different people blaming the Police, government on the rampage cases of defilement in the country.
According to the Uganda law, defilement is defined as the act of having sex with a juvenile under 18 years. Defilement can lead to infertility, trauma, contraction of HIV/AIDS and STDs, terminal illness or death.
In Uganda, defilement is a capital offence in cases where the victim has been infected with HIV or very young and has been defiled by a relative in what is called: ‘Aggravated Defilement ”
Even though most people blame rampant cases of defilement on police negligence of suspects and delayed justices for the victims both by the police and the judiciary, Ms Ogabirwe Katusiime, Ethics & Human Rights graduate from Makerere University challenges parents and guardians on their carelessness in regards to ensuring good health and safety of their children.
“Its a responsibility of a woman to know what to do in handling children. Go with your child wherever you go not leaving them to whom it may concern,” Ogabirwe emphasized.
She notes that some parents and guardians let their children leave homes at wired hours to places prone to merciless defilers such as going to the wells at night or at the morning’s dew, shambas without the notice of an elderly.
Ogabirwe who looked emotional, is optimistic that governmen, NGOs, CBOs, and the International community have done a lot in combating defilement cases. She rather agitates for the emphasizing of the fight against the acts on the grassroots / family levels since parents and guardians can be best fore frontiers in the fight.
“Everyone is responsible on the fight against defilement, however much emphasis should be put on the family levels. Parents and guardians need to be informed about the dangers of defilement on the health and lives of their children as well as on the need to fight it,” she explained.
In Uganda, most parents are known for taking on steps to negotiate with the suspects due to interests in material gains which is illegal. Others after their children tests negative for HIV/AIDS, they tend not to report cases to authorities or withdraw cases in fears of stigma to the offended family & the victim, intimidations from the perpetrators particularly in cases where the suspect is rich or a prominent person.
This according to Ogabirwe is due to lack of information and awareness on the laws on defilement which in one way or the other violates the rights of the victims.
She says when families are engaged in the fight against defilement, parents and guardians would feel the entitlements of their children and work towards protecting their rights.
In Depth findings on defilement and Rape on Police Annual Crimes Report 2019
Defilement: 13,613 cases were reported in 2019 compared to 15,366 cases in 2018, giving 11.4% decrease. 13,682 children were defiled in 2019, of whom, 13,441 were female juveniles and 241 were male juveniles. Defilements were highest in the region of East Kyoga with 945 cases, followed by Elgon with 922 cases while Mbale District registered the highest number with 317 cases, followed by Kamuli with 274 cases.
Victims of Defilement by Age Group
Age Group
0-8 YEARS =1,026,
9-14 YEARS =2,100,
15-17 YEARS =10,556,
Total No. of Victims = 13,682.
Throughout the country, the age category of 15 – 17 years had the highest number of victims due to the following;
i. Some cultural norms still practiced where girls who have developed breasts are
considered ready for marriage,
ii. Adolescent age where many young girls are taken advantage of, and
iii. Some of the girls are defiled in the process of doing domestic chores especiallywhen they are sent alone to fetch firewood and water.
Out of the total number of victims defiled, 390 were defiled by suspects who are HIV
positive. Defilement cases were spread throughout the country.
Rape: 1,528 cases of rape were reported to Police compared to 1,580 cases reported in 2018, giving a decrease of 3.2%. A total of 1,531 women were victims of rape.
Rwizi region had the highest number of reported cases of rape with 120 followed by KMP East with 96 cases, KMP North with 95 cases, Albertine with 91 cases and Greater Masaka with 85 cases. Mbarara District had the highest number of cases with 49 followed by Kabale and Kapchorwa with 31 cases, Kira Division with 29 cases, Mbale with 28 cases and Mayuge with 27 cases.
What the Law says
Section 129 (I) of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2007, states that; “A person who attempts to perform acts of sex act with another person who is below the age of 18years commits an offence and is on conviction, liable to imprisonment not exceeding 18 years,or imprisonment to death”
However, the punishment of maximum sentence of death has never been meted out to anyone convicted of the offence although many are in jail.
