This past week Light Gives Heat partnered with Rose from the Women's Rights Initiative in Uganda to give training to some of the Suubi women on the topics of economic empowerment, women's rights, and domestic violence. Amber(Uganda Director) recaps the training day...

When we arrive at the Suubi building we shake hands and greet the four women who have already arrived. Rose, the trainer, arrives with Lauren and they begin to hand out pens and notebooks. Lauren introduces Rose to Lillian the Translator. More women arrive. Rose asks everyone to introduce themselves with their first name. After each woman says her name, Rose says “Thank you, dear.” or “You are most welcome.” She introduces herself. “I am Kigere, Rose and I educate people about human rights, especially women’s rights. My organization is called the Women’s Rights Initiative. (WRI) We do economic empowerment and leadership and youth skills training. Today I am here to talk to you about women’s rights and domestic violence. First, let’s set expectations for the training.” Lillian translates Rose’s words into Acholi Luo and asks the women to raise their hands and say their expectations. One by one the ladies offer “Discipline.” “Cooperation.” “Time management.”
Rose writes each word on the black square of paint on the wall that is the chalkboard. She says “Wonderful, I will add one more. ‘Every answer is respected.’ We are working together here and everyone must feel safe to say what she is thinking. Do you agree?” The ladies nod and “mmmm” in agreement.
“My first question for you then, ladies, is: What is domestic violence?” Ladies raise their hands and say “No cooperation between husband and wife.” “Differences between children and parents.” “No cooperation between neighbors.” “When men don’t pay school fees.” Rose raises her eyebrows at the last comment. “You, jja-jja Margret, I remember your name. I think I should have been a good teacher because I can remember names very well, but instead I do this. You, my dear, get the gold star for the day.” Lillian laughs and translates. The jja-jja smiles and nods her head in the wise way she does when she knows she is right.
“Your answers are very good. Now I will add my definition. Domestic violence is when one partner becomes afraid of the other partner. This is a result of when one partner has power over the other and one partner controls the other. This happens everywhere. Even your American friends told me they have it where they come from. Violence can happen to any woman at any time in her life. It does not matter if she is rich or poor or if she is black or white. It happens in Kampala, in Masaka, in Gulu, and, here, in Jinja. Have you ever heard of this happening in your neighborhood? Has it ever happened to you?” Lillian takes a deep breath because Rose did not pause once to let her translate. Lillian stands up and, with the same power and tone, repeats what Rose has said. The ladies again nod and “mmmm” in agreement.
Rose asks if the women can name the four types of domestic violence. Women raise their hands and say “Beating.” “Drunkenness.” “Unfaithfulness.” “Argument.” Rose writes each of these words on the wall and says “You are all correct, my dears, these are all types of abuse. Now I will write the four types of domestic violence.” Next to number one, she writes “Emotional” and says “this is when a partner controls your time and communication. He won’t let you see your family. Rose begins to tell stories. After each, she asks “Have you ever heard of something like this?” And the women nod and “mmmmm” and nod again. She tells of men who lock their women up in houses and don’t let them out for months and years. “And this woman she gave birth to a baby. And even then she was not let out of the house. This baby was 8 months old and had never been outside of the home.”
Next to number two she writes “Physical” and says “this is when someone beats you or you beat them. Yes, women can commit domestic violence. And this man, he was in a poor village and everyone knew he was being beaten by his wife. And they laughed at him and said he was a very weak man. This man was also a victim of domestic violence.”
At number three she writes “Sexual” and says “When you cannot say no to sex, this is sexual violence. When a man forces you to have sex, this is sexual violence. When he refuses to wear a condom, even though you ask him to, this is sexual violence. When a man takes another woman into your bed and has sex with her and makes you watch. This is sexual violence.”
Number four is “Financial.” Rose says “When a man takes all of your money, even the money you make, this is financial abuse. When he won’t pay for school fees for his own children, my dear jja-jja Margret, this is financial abuse.” The women laugh and start to talk amongst themselves.
One woman raises her hand and says “But what are we supposed to do if they hit us or refuse to pay fees?”
“That, my dears, is the topic for next week.

Please click Here if you would like to help support the WRI training in Uganda.