Uganda Network for Sex Worker led Organizations –UNESO has launched the Sexual Offences Bill –SOB Policy Brief 2019, in a bid to raise awareness and formulate strategies to mitigate risks that come with contentious clauses within the bill which affect the sex workers’ movement in Uganda. The online event attracted UNESO’s board, partners and representatives from various membership organizations across the country.
The National Coordinator UNESO, Daisy Nakato Namakula in her opening remarks explained, that this initiative documents the journey of the sexual offences bill since it was passed by parliament in May to August 2021 when it was rejected by the Head of State, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
“We’ve been engaging on this bill but when it was passed by parliament in May, it became too strenuous for us. While some clauses are good, others are very problematic given the situation that we are operating in. There are already so many laws and policies that criminalize us. With this policy brief, the idea was to consult and ensure that all our community members are aware of the Sexual Offences Bill. We didn’t want to just assume that they knew and understood the impacts especially for those in the rural districts,” Daisy said.
Through 5 regional engagement meetings, the network hosted a total of 100 participants in a two day policy analysis meeting which led to the development of a diverse technical working group of 10. This group was used to review findings and develop advocacy messages into local dialects that could be easily understood within communities. The final output was a summarized and simple policy brief which will be used to approach, guide conversations and advocacy with various stakeholders and government to ensure the removal or call for redress on the detrimental clauses.
Daisy’s remarks were followed by a sharing session led by pioneer sex worker leaders, Sanyu Hajjara Batte and Morgan Kanyike who recapped a brief history, methods of operation and a way forward in ensuring a stronger and more sustainable movement through trust, resilience and strategic partnerships with the end goal being decriminalization of sex work in Uganda.
Counsel Justine Balya from Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum – HRAPF then took participants through a discussion on the policy brief developed by UNESO. In her presentation, Counsel Balya opined that the sexual offences bill provides a unique opportunity to change the law and make real tangible improvement in the welfare of sex workers in Uganda in all their diversities. “What we needed the president to do is to revise this bill according to certain very specific lines that we had asked and not just send it back to parliament. They say that we already have existing laws that cover all sexual offences which isn’t true. For example, we don’t have laws against marital rape, laws which properly define consent and provide for the offences of sexual and indecent assaults,” she noted. “We need a Sexual Offences Bill which will redefine some of those laws and remove those that shouldn’t be offensive. So, this policy brief provides a precise analysis to sections of this bill enacted by parliament which will violate the rights of sex workers in all their diversities and their implications,” Counsel Justine added.
The Policy Brief also to offers suggestions on how advocacy should look like moving forward on major issues and how they should be tackled.
