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SOURCE: War Child Canada
How a legal aid program is protecting the rights of women and children. Sexual violence against women and children is rife in northern Uganda. Until a unique intervention by War Child Canada, they suffered in silence. Now, we are offering them recourse to the law and the chance to seek justice. .
This situation is intolerable but things are changing, thanks to a unique War Child Canada initiative. We are empowering women and children to demand justice and protection, by providing direct legal aid from local lawyers whom we have trained in child rights law, and educated about the consequences of gender-based violence.
Sexual violence against women and children is rife in northern Uganda. Until a unique intervention by War Child Canada, they suffered in silence. Now, we are offering them recourse to the law and the chance to seek justice. This extraordinary program needs to urgently expand but it will only be possible with your help.
The impact of war on children is not restricted to the immediate, incomprehensible horror of the conflict itself. The trauma and abuse often continue for years after the fighting has stopped – years of tenuous peace when the world’s attention moves elsewhere.
This is particularly true for the children of northern Uganda. The brutality of the civil war that raged between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and government forces is legendary. The LRA was largely an army of children. The LRA abducted tens of thousands of boys and girls to serve as fighters, porters and sex slaves. They were forced to commit horrendous acts of brutality, often against their own communities and families, or against each other. For the girls, rape, abuse and sexual slavery was practically inevitable.
The long-term psychological trauma for these children is hard to comprehend. But in reality, for many it is just the beginning. Escape from the militia does not necessarily mean an end of abuse. Formerly abducted children are returning to communities they were often forced to attack. They are stigmatized, sometimes by their own families. This has been especially true for girls who have borne the children of rebels as a result of their sexual slavery. Crimes against these children are widespread. Sexual violence against women and girls is pervasive. A lack of respect and enforcement of law has led to children’s rights being violated with impunity. This is not helped by a judiciary and police force that is unable to fully protect those rights, or is unaware of them, despite those rights being enshrined in Ugandan law.
With no recourse to the law, children are left helpless, facing a life of continuing violence and increasing trauma. A future bereft of any hope whatsoever.
This situation is intolerable but things are changing, thanks to a unique War Child Canada initiative. We are empowering women and children to demand justice and protection, by providing direct legal aid from local lawyers whom we have trained in child rights law, and educated about the consequences of gender-based violence.
Of course, such a program cannot be effective without the support and understanding of the community as a whole. To this end we have set up programs designed to promote awareness and understanding of children’s and women’s rights. This includes a locally run radio program broadcast to 500,000 people. We are also providing training to local legal structures, including police, probation, welfare officers and local courts, to ensure that they are aware of their responsibility to protect children and women from abuse, especially sexual violence.
The program has already provided hundreds of women and children with legal protection, transforming their lives. Hundreds of thousands of northern Ugandans have been made aware of the importance of protecting women and children from rights violations and sexual violence. The judiciary is also beginning to understand their responsibilities in ensuring rights abuses are dealt with under the law.
This is just the start. If children in northern Uganda are to live in hope rather than terror, in real peace rather than ongoing violence, then the great successes of this program must be replicated across the region. And for that we need your help…
More information at www.warchild.ca
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