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	Uganda’s staggering rate of teen motherhood can shatter life dreams by Alex Baluku PassBlue, Pulitzer Center   Jan. 2023   Uganda — In this East African country, many young women’s dreams of earning a university degree and pursuing a career are being shattered because they can’t access the contraceptives they need to avoid getting pregnant before they are ready for that major life challenge. They are also dying at high rates while pregnant or from giving birth, especially in rural areas. The situation is emblematic of a broader problem affecting the futures of young women globally, especially in developing countries.   “If the services were closer to me, I would have accessed them, and I wouldn’t have had children at my age,” Jackline Kabugho, 19, said in an interview, in rural Uganda. “I might have become a schoolteacher, as that was my dream.”   Health experts emphasize that the low availability of family planning services in developing countries — and even richer ones — plays a major role in influencing fertility rates and population growth, leaving young women and adolescents out on a limb in not only obtaining an advanced education degree but also affecting their health and well-being.   Research released in July 2022 by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, revealed that nearly a third of women in developing countries initiate childbearing at age 19 or younger, and almost half of the first births by adolescents occur among girls aged 17 or under. Despite an overall decrease in fertility rates between 2015 and 2019 globally, women who began childbearing in adolescence averaged almost five births by the time they reached 40.   The UNFPA report highlights the crucial effects of gender-based and income inequalities in driving teen pregnancies, resulting in increased child marriages, limited education, restricted career goals and inadequate health care and sex education. These factors impinge on a country’s ability to flourish and compete in the global economy.   In Uganda, with a population of nearly 50 million, a staggering one-quarter of teenage girls aged 15 to 19 have begun childbearing. Rural areas are particularly affected by the high rate due to limited resources.   Across the world, approximately 295,000 women die annually from pregnancy and childbirth complications, primarily in low- and middle-income countries.   According to the 2022 UNFPA “Motherhood in Childhood: The Untold Story” report, 218 million women lack access to modern contraceptives. These statistics reflect the need for comprehensive efforts to address sexual reproductive health and rights (SHSR) challenges on a global scale, expert say. The problem extends to domestic violence and poverty crises.   According to a July 2023 report published by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization promoting sexual and reproductive health rights globally, while worldwide maternal mortality dropped 38 percent between 2000 and 2017, standing at 152 deaths per 100,000 in 2020, maternal mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa, including Uganda, remains alarmingly high, at 545 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The rate is the highest in the world and far above the Sustainable Development Goal target of less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births globally by 2030.   Only half of partnered or married women in sub-Saharan Africa have their family planning needs met, and while some services are becoming more available, access to safe abortion, sexuality education, prevention of sexual and gender-based violence and counseling for sexual health and well-being are severely lacking.   Uganda’s maternal mortality rate, at 336 deaths per 100,000 births, is more than double the global average and continues to rank among the world’s highest, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, despite a decline since 2011. Direct obstetric causes contributed to 73.8 percent of maternal deaths, with the most common being hemorrhage, sepsis, hypertensive disorders and complications of abortion; malaria and HIV/AIDS were the leading indirect causes.   In the mountainous region of Bughendera County-Bundibugyo District, in western Uganda, the scarcity of family planning resources profoundly influence fertility rates and population growth, hampering the aspirations of young women and adolescents. Remote villages can go weeks without contact from outsiders, and critical health services are often far away. Yet, young women there want to take charge of their reproductive health, as they repeatedly asserted in interviews last fall.   Agness Namara, for example, gave birth to her children at 16 and 19 years old, but because of the lack of family planning providers in her village, she had to walk long distances to the main hospital for care.   Health facilities in Bughendera County, however, are often understaffed and dealing with shortages of contraceptives. Winnierose Masika, who runs family planning services in the village of Harugale, said that most medical center in Bughendera County are not digitized and that village health teams are not motivated to computerize their work.   Jackline Kabugho, 19, has two children. She attributes her early motherhood to having minimal information on contraceptives as well as family poverty. She said that she feared going to the health facility in her area to get advice on how to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, wary of social stigma, lack of privacy and potential judgment from healthcare providers.   Sheila Hosana Muhindo, a social worker and human rights activist in the area, said that despite legal age regulations, child marriage persists; although the legal age for marriage is 18 in Uganda, individuals can marry at 16 with parental consent. Domestic violence was another pervasive problem faced by adolescent mothers in the region, she noted. Economic pressures and social norms intensify the mothers’ mental health problems, as they do for women around the world.   Racheal Kabugho had to sell her retail shop in the town of Ntandi after experiencing complications while giving birth in 2022. The 20-year-old, who became pregnant while enduring an abusive relationship, now lives with her grandmother as she struggles to raise her child.   “I never intended to give birth at 19,” she said. “But, as you know, men often take advantage of girls, and that’s what happened to me. I tried to get family planning, but our facility didn’t have short-term methods, and I feared the long ones because he could find out.”   At the Bundibugyo Women With Disabilities center, Sarah Kabagenyi, an associate there, said that women with such challenges especially struggle to find health care and are often sexually exploited by men.   The number of young mothers seeking sexual reproductive health care services also remains low in the region because of limited male involvement. Due to entrenched cultural norms, lack of education, stigma, health system challenges, communication barriers and traditional power dynamics, men are often collectively discouraged from talking about these matters, Peace Muhindo, a health care worker in the village of Bukangara, said.   Lillian Vumilia, who is from another village, Bugombwa, dreamed of becoming a nurse after she finished her education, but when she had an unwanted pregnancy and was abandoned by her partner at age 18, she was forced to work odd jobs to support her child.   “When I got pregnant, I was too scared to tell my parents,” she said. “I had to run away from home, gave birth at a friend’s place, and my boyfriend abandoned me.” With better access to sexual reproductive health and other medical services, she said, she could have pursued her dream of becoming a nursing staff manager.   The call for male involvement in family planning, echoed by health workers like Peace Muhindo, requires a broader need for cultural shifts and awareness campaigns both in Uganda and beyond.   Annah Kukundakwe, a senior program officer at the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, an indigenous nonprofit group based in Kampala, the capital, said that because nearly a third of all women in Uganda become mothers during adolescence, the country is unwittingly jeopardizing the future of young women.   The country, she argues, is raising a population that is highly dependent, uneducated and lacks employable skills, which hurts the overall national development agenda.   “We need to be flexible and understand that in many cases, families have become dangerous spaces for young girls and women,” she said. “We need to support families and parents. We need everyone involved.”   * Alex Baluku is a Ugandan journalist, a Dag Hammarskjold Journalism Fellow, and a grantee from the Pulitzer Center.   http://www.passblue.com/2024/01/15/ugandas-staggering-rate-of-teen-motherhood-can-shatter-life-dreams/ http://pulitzercenter.org/women Visit the related web page
	The global femicide epidemic by Theresa Beckmann International Politics and Society, agencies   Jan. 2024   'Per Giulia e per tutte' (‘For Giulia and for all’) echoed through the streets of Italy in mid-November 2023. Thousands of women, activists and supporters gathered to protest and show solidarity with the 22-year-old student Giulia Cecchettin, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend on the night of 11 November 2023. The outrage over the murder of the young student unleashed a wave of protest that was audible far beyond the country’s borders in the weeks after the incident.   Browsing through the page Women for Change triggers a wave of emotions which constantly sways back and forth between disbelief, grief and anger. The South African NGO is dedicated to women’s rights and documents all the cases of murdered women in the country. South Africa’s femicide rate is five times higher than the global average; on average, nine women were murdered there every day in 2022. A quick glance reveals a seemingly never-ending series of posts titled ‘In Memory of’, each featuring a portrait of a smiling women — a tribute to all the woman and girls whose lives were abruptly cut short. One of them is Nombulelo Jessica Michael, a social worker who was attending a gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) case in court on the last day she was seen alive.   The deaths of Nombulelo and Giulia account for a series of murders of women all over the world — femicides. The term describes the most extreme form of gender-based violence. In 2022, the UN registered 89 000 cases of intentional killings of women and girls worldwide. Fifty-five per cent of these murders are committed by (former) intimate partners or perpetrators from the victim’s own environment.   Femicide cases have been rising continuously in the last two decades. And still, these figures only paint a fragmented picture of a blunt reality: a significant number of femicide victims (around 40 per cent) remain unaccounted for in the UN report, as they are not categorised as gender-related killings due to variations in criminal justice recording and investigation practices across nations.   With the start of the new year, it is high time to highlight the pressing need for continuous advocacy initiatives and policy implications aimed at promoting societal transformation and confronting the fundamental factors contributing to gender-based violence. But the challenge requires a multifaceted approach that acknowledges the intersection of underlying power dynamics in the form of a patriarchal society, racism and structural inequalities.   Giulia and Nombulelo were two different women, on different continents, who became victims of the same alarming global crisis of gender-based violence, affecting women and girls in diverse cultural, economic and political contexts.   In patriarchal societies, the omnipresent grip of traditional gender norms reinforces a culture where violence against women is normalised. This norm transcends borders and adapts to different cultural contexts while maintaining its oppressive nature.   Those stereotypes and prejudices continuously foster expectations of femininity and masculinity, weaving dangerous narratives of victim blaming. As a result, it is common for the public discourse surrounding gender-based violence and femicides to be marked by the inappropriate behaviour of a young woman who is drinking alcohol and is walking home alone at night, rather than being centred on expressions of grief, condolences and righteous indignation.   In this regard, media portrayals and narratives must shift and tell the stories from the victim’s point of view, avoiding stylistic instruments drawing from love tragedies and sensationalism.   But what other causes are there for the rise of femicide cases? The Covid19 pandemic, which forced people to stay locked up at home, intensified the extent of violence against women immensely. It also pushed people into financial uncertainty and economic distress, which became a crucial driving factor for gender-based violence.   Government authorities, women’s rights activists and civil society partners worldwide were reporting significantly increased calls for help to domestic violence helplines during that time. Disrupted support systems, the intensification of pre-existing tensions, overwhelmed healthcare systems and restricted mobility made it challenging for victims to seek help and support.   More than this, food insecurity is also intertwined with women’s exposure to domestic violence. The economic roles of women, especially as full-time unpaid caregivers, are associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing violence, as highlighted in a UN report.   Additionally, women with income experience a greater sense of safety and reduced perception of violence (except for those who out-earn their partners) — portraying the harmful power dynamics perpetuating femicides and gender based-violence and their connection to women’s economic dependence.   Consequently, we need to prioritise initiatives that enhance financial independence, providing women with the resources and support needed to escape abusive situations, such as shelters and other help centres: in 46 European countries, 3 087 shelters provide 39 130 beds for women and children, but because of capacity and space issues, it is impossible to provide accommodation for all those seeking help.   When looking at the emergence of femicide and gender-based violence, it is also important to acknowledge that racism amplifies the vulnerability of women and girls — particularly those from marginalised communities. In the context of femicides, racial dynamics intersect with gender-based violence, creating compounded challenges for women of colour. The Femicide Census, which documents women killed by men in the UK, reveals the ethnicity of only 22 out of 110 victims. This lack of data in the documentation of the victims’ ethnicity leads to insufficient conclusions and examinations, which disregard cultural circumstances, influences, as well as intercommunal disparities.   Experts suggest that women from ethnic minorities and indigenous groups may encounter discrimination due to factors like ethnicity, language and religion. This bias puts them at higher risk of various adversities, such as limited access to healthcare or higher risks of experiencing violence by strangers.   Finally, many women of colour fear engaging with the police in the first place due to concerns about discrimination or lack of support, hindering effective strategies to address the vulnerabilities faced by marginalised communities.   It is imperative that these issues extend to law enforcement. Legal and policy responses cannot be blind to structural inequalities that disproportionately affect marginalised communities. It is crucial to ensure that activist groups, NGOs overseeing femicide data processing, along with family members remembering victims and other stakeholders dismantling harmful narratives, gain increased visibility in the debate.   From Italy to South Africa to America, in recent years there have been major efforts by feminist movements, NGOs and international organisations to put femicides on the political agenda. But how successful have these movements been? As a study by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) suggests, the prevention of femicide is closely linked to legal responses to domestic violence. A societal rethink makes up only one part of the equation — legal consequences and political implications must follow.   When looking at Italy’s recent implementations, one strong deficit becomes apparent immediately: the government’s spending on countering gender-based violence was more than doubled in the last decade, however, the femicide rate has remained stable. The reason for this is that a large amount of money is put towards the treatment of the victims instead of the prevention of femicides.   In South Africa, the opposite has happened: the South African National Assembly recently passed the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill 2023. The legislation aims to enhance the criminal justice system’s response to gender-based violence through improved law enforcement, police training and legal processes.   At first glance, this seems to be a progressive implementation, however, the initial optimism of advocates, supporters and activists was quickly dampened: the South African Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu squandered 100 million rands meant to assist survivors of gender-based violence by mismanaging the allocated money and transferring funds to nonfunctional civil society organisations without GBVF mandates — an example for the gap between legislative intent and effective implementation in reality.   However, one thing is clear: we should never stop telling the stories of Giulia and Nombulelo and all the other women and girls around the globe who were brutally murdered. Their stories should lead to collective action, which demands not just sympathy but systemic change and constantly amplifies the voices of the silenced.   http://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/the-global-femicide-epidemic-7227 http://carnegieendowment.org/2024/02/12/kenyan-women-are-pushing-for-action-on-femicide.-they-have-road-map-pub-91607 http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/jan/18/femicide-in-kenya-a-national-crisis-say-rights-groups http://www.theguardian.com/society/femicide http://english.elpais.com/international/2023-11-25/more-than-3000-women-are-murdered-in-mexico-each-year-how-violence-affects-the-youngest-victims.html http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/were-here-tell-it-mexican-women-break-silence-over-femicides   http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/11/gender-related-killings-of-women-and-girls-femicide-feminicide-global-estimates-2022 http://stories.undp.org/one-killing-every-11-minutes http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2023/11/press-release-un-women-calls-for-bold-investments-to-end-violence-against-women-in-light-of-new-report-showing-prevention-is-severely-underfunded Visit the related web page
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