Jessica was 17 years old when her aunt told her that Peter one of their neighbors wanted to marry her.
She had just dropped out of school due to a lack of school fees although she longed to complete her
education. Her aunt was not interested in that. She assured her that if she fails to get married to Peter,
she was going to throw her out of her house. She was so confused and being an orphan, had nobody
else except her aunt, she accepted and soon the marriage preparations started. The last thing she
wanted was to hurt her aunt. She was married off and two years down the road, life turned out to
be a nightmare. The man has since turned her into a punching bag. The last straw in the bottle was when
he hit her hard and she had a miscarriage. The man spends his entire days hopping from one bar to
another and whenever he returns, she has to stay awake. Worse of it, she starves and when she asks for
money for food she gets a thorough beating. Jessica keeps inside to avoid attracting gossip from
onlookers.
Jessica is not the only girl experiencing violence there are several girls and women who experience
violence and remain in pain for the rest of their lives.
It’s from stories of girls like Jessica and other women who have been abused that SAP is in a position to
advocate to the end of violence against women and girls in the slums and also able to provide support
services to women who suffer violence. The meeting which was held on 7th January 2021 at Slum Aid
Project offices were for each partner to know their roles in this project is one of the several others that
have been held. The participants in attendance included; staff from the Centre for Justice Studies and
Innovations (CJSI), Men Engage Uganda, the artists from Kibz vision, Eno Beats and SAP.
The meeting was facilitated by Ms. Valentine Namakula the Executive Director of CJSI held to help SAP
know the unique roles each partner plays toward meeting the project goals and objectives using their
areas of competence.
This project is an investment by UN Women under the Women Peace Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) and
the EU Spotlight Initiative on VAW/G. The innovative project is divided into four main areas; the creation of
coordination mechanisms at the district and national levels where SAP reports to stakeholders and seeks
their advice, capacity building of women’s groups to participate in local government decision making
processes, using music as a social mobilization tool to promote positive masculinities and training of
male champions in selected communities.
Rose Gawaya (Ph.D.) in her presentation explained that in line with the project goals and objectives, SAP
sets to bring in a unique role of being the voice for women and children who suffer violence in the
slums. By using her network of key community volunteers, SAP is able to mobilize women’s groups and
provide support services to women who suffer the brunt of the violence.
While CJSI is expected to usher in governance and human rights expertise, with its extensive experience
of implementing projects at the national and local government levels. While Sonke Gender Justice and Men
Engage bring in their unique experience of working with men to campaign against gender-based
violence. And iNDLOBONGELA together with the Ugandan artists contribute by using music as a social
mobilization tool to address VAW/G.
Mr. Hassan Sekajoolo, Coordinator, and Dr. Lydia Mungerera the Executive Director of Men Engage
Uganda presented the unique methodology of working with male action groups to address gender-based violence. Men Engage will train a core group of male champions to address VAW/G in the slums.
In his remarks, Mr. Sekajoolo noted that usually the training last 5 days, and Men Engage trains a
maximum of 30 male action groups at a time. He pledged to work together with SAP and other partners
to address VAW/G.
Miss Katie Mulindwa, assistant programs manager at CJSI presented the findings of the capacity
assessment undertaken on behalf of SAP of the vulnerable women groups. She presented the
complexities involved in identifying vulnerable women groups and how CJSI went about identifying key
population women’s groups. She explained the 7-dimensional criteria used for capacity assessments
that focused on subjective issues such as appreciation, identity, and belonging. She also highlighted the
intersectionality of vulnerable women and the multiple identities that they have.
She noted that the majority of these groups are not accepted in society and leave in fear and find it
difficult to access sexual and reproductive health and VAW/G services. Ms Sylvia Namakula CJSI,
The programs Manager noted that the wider key population networks played a key role to support the
identification of women’s groups.
Mr. Hassan Sekajoolo, Coordinator, and Dr. Lydia Mungerera, the Executive Director of Men Engage
presented their unique methodology of working with male action groups to address gender-based
violence. Men Engage will train a core group of male champions to address VAW/G in the slums. In his
remarks, Mr. Sekajoolo noted that usually the training last 5 days, and Men Engage trains a maximum of
30 male action groups at a time. He reiterates his commitment to work together with SAP and other
partners to address VAW/G.
Miss Katie Mulindwa, a young female leader at CJSI presented the findings of the capacity assessment
undertaken on behalf of SAP of the vulnerable women groups. She highlighted the complexities involved
in identifying vulnerable women groups and how CJSI went about identifying key population women’s
groups. She noted that the majority of these groups are not accepted in society and leave in fear and
find it difficult to access sexual and reproductive health and VAW/G services. Ms Sylvia Namakula CJSI,
The program Manager noted that the wider key population networks played a key role to support the
identification of women’s groups.
The artists presented at the meeting were Ms. Irene Kayemba and Senyonga Fredrick a.k.a Black skin.
These two artists work with the South African artist/clinical psychologist, Mthetho Tshemese to support
SAP undertakes music and documentary activities under the social mobilization component of the
project. Ms. Kayemba outlined some of the key activities that will be undertaken before and during the
launch of the song that was composed, WiseUp. WiseUp is a song led by Mthetho Tshemese and
together with 3 Ugandan artists (Frank from Arua, Ata Banton, and Blackskin from Kampala) that urges
men to act and stop abusing women. Black skin played a song he composed, “why are you so abusive”
that calls on men to stop domestic violence.
