Patriarchy is the stoke of violence against women in all structures of society. The UN Declaration defines Gender Based Violence (GBV) as any act against women that is likely to result to or actually results to harm. Despite the fact that it is not limited to gender or sexual identity, female sexual minorities face harsher mistreatment because of our vulnerability and the reality that we can barely report to the authorities for intervention once faced with violent situations.
Some LBQ women mainly consider GBV to be physical yet it takes on other forms that they don't even realize when they are being violated more so within their intimate relationships because they lack that bargaining power to prevent it. Online harassment, economic frustrations, psychological torture and emotional abuse through guilt tripping, silent treatment, unwanted sexual advances, rape, humiliation, verbal insults, misgendering and threatening violence are just examples of the nonphysical violence that can cause behavioral and mental disorders. There are also articles within the constitution that perpetuate violence against women like the Anti-Pornography Act without any legal protection to directly shield us from it.
However, within the same constitution, a few articles can be manipulated to our advantage in the pursuit for justice in courts of law when we are violated. Article 21 states that all Ugandans must be treated equally before the law. Article 22 is in regard to the protection of the right to life for all while Article 2 facilitated the establishment of the Equal Opportunities Commission to handle cases of marginalization and discrimination even against gender and sexual minorities. Articles 50, 51 and 52 of the constitution ensure the enforcement of the above laws. Human Rights lawyers should interpret such legislation to all women which will enable us to understand that we can be protected under the constitution regardless of sexual orientation. The laws above are general and not restricted to a specific group of people even though we can't ignore the fact that the justice system remains tainted by some biased judges.
A discrete committee can be initiated for intervention purposes in cases of GBV among LBQ women. Training more LBQ peer educators and paralegals will contribute in raising awareness on issues related to GBV maybe through education on violence against women, psychotherapy, first aid and legal assistance to the victims of this vice. This will also hype championing GBV within the queer community and impact the same change in the societies we hail from. Victims experiencing abuse in their relationships should not hang in there nor stay silent because extreme cases of GBV can cause death.
In the Uganda Feminist Forum conversation hosted by Akina Mama wa Afrika during the Uganda Women's Week on 24th October 2018, as one of the concrete solutions to stomp out violence against women, Solome Nakaweesi, a feminist activist remarked, "To ensure inclusion of all women, we must work as a wider movement and across movements." Embracing feminism in our respective communities while we support each other will impart all women with the tools to eliminate the inferiority complex of every woman at all societal levels in Uganda.
