Friends
Among the litany of studies that have been done on Acholi violence, is the one
of World Bank. And this particular study as well decided to go after the
psychological effect of violence to women. It is a very brutal indicator on
the danger we have in Uganda. But this study also raises the issue of Acholi
men being drunkards, violent, wife beaters and rapists. World Bank does not
plant hate and it is not anti-Acholi. This study was made by Dr. Rebecca Horn
under a heading “ Psychosocial distress and well-being among Acholi women in
Northern Uganda” Working paper No. 1. Under the auspice of The International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World bank.
We are starting at page 10.
Case Study 1
This woman was abducted and spent four years in the bush. During that time she
killed people, was raped by fighters, and became infected with HIV. She also
gave birth to two children.
When she returned from the bush, she believed in killing and saw death as a
normal thing. She engaged in prostitution as a way of earning income for
survival. She had nightmares, was disrespectful, and grabbed people’s property
by force.
She spent some time in a reception center run by a nongovernmental organization
(NGO), where she received support, advice, and encouragement. She also believes
in God and prays. Now she behaves well—she participates in community work and
is very active in community life. She has joined various groups (for example, a
savings group) and has gone back to education (adult literacy). She now advises
others and is respected by others.
Source: As told by a 32-year-old man in Gulu.
Situational stressors
Situational stressors are aspects of a woman’s current living situation that
contribute to psychological distress.
Poverty and a lack of support were commonly said to affect the psychological
well-being of women, particularly concerns about how to pay school fees and
meet children’s basic needs (for example, food clothes). This concern
particularly affected women who were responsible for meeting these needs
without support from others, sometimes because their husband was unable or
unwilling to provide for them and their children. Not having anybody to help
with their work was distressing for some women, as were the feelings of
isolation associated with a lack of support. Being overburdened by too many
responsibilities was a source of distress for some:
Women are overworked in that the men don’t • help them with garden work, and
they also have to take care of the housework, which makes them very tired
(freelisting interview with 30-year-old woman in Pader).
Problems with husbands were most common• ly cited as a cause of psychological
distress for women. The specific issues referred to include the following:
Excessive alcohol use and drunkenness, which • led to abuse and violence;
spending household money on alcohol; neglecting the family; and frequent
quarrels between the husband and wife:
Drunkenness in partner, leading to domestic violence (slapping, beating) and
sale of household property (freelisting interview with 23-year-old woman, Gulu)
After drinking, they pick fights and end ˏˏup hurting people. The women then
have to pay for the damage caused by their men (freelisting interview with
18-year-old woman, Pader).
he husband not meeting his responsibilities to • the family: staying away from
the home, not providing for his wife or children, failing to contribute to
household work (for example, cultivation, repairing house), or spending money
on alcohol or other women instead of on his family:
Men leave the sole responsibility of taking care of the children on the wife’s
shoulders. A man can sleep out, or even be gone for days without a word
(freelisting interview with 25-year-old woman, Gulu).
Husband neglects her and her children, ˏˏdoesn’t help her cultivate, takes what
she produces and gives to his other wife (case study interview with 34-year-old
woman, Gulu).
Some men don’t want to help women in ˏˏgardens these days, but instead they go
to relax at the trading center from morning to sunset while watching films and
football matches (freelisting interview with 34-year-old woman, Gulu).
The husband using household resources, in• cluding the woman’s money, to buy
alcohol:
Getting of money forcefully by men from ˏˏtheir women, and they use it for
drinking. In such cases, if a man asks for money from a woman, she has to give
because if she refuses, fighting becomes the only solution (freelisting
interview with 57-year-old woman, Gulu).
Abuse and conflicts—the husband using abu• sive language toward his wife,
frequent misunderstandings and failures to agree, or the husband humiliating
and threatening the woman (often related to drinking):
Unnecessary quarrelling gives a woman a ˏˏsense of insecurity (freelisting
interview with 25-year-old woman, Gulu).
Husband doesn’t support her, spends his ˏˏsalary on alcohol and women and
abuses her, saying she is useless and desperate (case study interview with
30-year-old woman, Gulu).
Husband being unfaithful, which usually in• volves him spending money on other
women, and putting his wife at risk of HIV infection: Husband infected her with
HIV and he is ˏˏstill sleeping with many women, and demands sex daily from his
wife (case study interview with 40-year-old women, Kitgum).
Polygamy, especially if it involves abuse or • neglect of the first wife and
her children, or conflict with second wife:
Some men bring other wives and forget ˏˏabout the first wife with her children,
and don’t give support (freelisting interview with 30-year-old woman, Kitgum).
Domestic violence, usually related to the hus• band drinking alcohol and
having relationships with other women, along with trying to take household
resources and listening to gossip about his wife:
After getting other women they turn ˏˏviolent against us, for example, abusing,
beating us up (freelisting interview with 23-year-old woman, Pader).
Husband controlling resources and excluding • the woman from decision making,
especially regarding the use of money:
Some men do not value women’s ideas and • always want to impose their ideas on
women (freelisting interview with 29-year-old woman, Kitgum).
Other women were said to be suffering emotionally because of their
circumstances following the loss of their husbands, either through death or
marriage breakdown. For some, just the fear of this was a cause of distress.
Some women who had lost their husbands had been left to fend for themselves
and raise children alone, without any financial or emotional support, or any
help with household work and cultivation. Others were widows who had been sent
away from their home and/or land by their in-laws, and whose inheritance rights
had been violated. Some widows were reported to have been married to their
brother-in-law, according to the tradition of wife inheritance, who then
neglected them and their children. Relevant observations include:
Lack of respect and trust between intimate • partners—women can be sent away
anytime from home (freelisting interview with 45-year-old woman, Kitgum).
Wife inheritance—men take up widows with • the aim of taking away the wealth
left by their husbands, but fail to take care of such women and their children.
Some people destroy widows’ property in revenge of what was done to them by
her late husband. Brothers-in-law insult their late brothers’ wives who refuse
to marry them. Sometimes they send the widow away from their late husband’s
land (freelisting interview with 29-year-old woman, Kitgum).
When widowed, land disputes always arise • and women always tend to get thrown
out (freelisting interview with 25-year-old woman, Gulu).
Difficult relationships were another significant cause of emotional distress.
Findings revealed women who were suffering emotionally because of problems with
their children, who did not respect them; or with their in-laws, who were
abusive and insulting, and/or spread gossip about the wife and supported her
husband in abusing her:
Some mothers-in-law hate their daughters-• in-law and keep abusing them and
accusing them falsely, so they are sent away (freelisting interview with
18-year-old woman, Pader).
Her in-laws were very abusive to her and • blamed her for her husband’s death
(case study interview with 30-year-old woman, Pader).
Undisciplined children who don’t respect • their parents and always ignore
their parents whenever they are talking to them (freelisting interview with
30-year-old woman, Gulu).
Problems in relationships with neighbors or the community also contributed to
distress, including gossip and abuse (for example, toward single mothers or
women who were formerly abducted), quarrelling, or allegations (for example, of
witchcraft):
She was barren and so was a social outcast—• people treated her badly (case
study interview with 36-year-old woman, Pader).
Jealousy, especially with neighbors, is a big • problem. Most women here
complain of having rough times with neighbors in that some neighbors don’t
want to see others progressing in terms of money, children’s education, and so
on (freelisting interview with 34-year-old woman, Gulu).
Abusive community members to single moth• ers—they call them prostitutes
(freelisting interview with 23-year-old woman, Pader).
Finally, sickness and disease were further sources of emotional distress. These
included sickness in the family, especially of children, and the woman’s own
sickness preventing her from fulfilling her responsibilities. Some women’s
emotional well-being was affected by a fear of being infected with HIV by an
unfaithful husband, and those who had already been affected, worried about the
future.
Fear of getting HIV. Men have affairs with • women whose status they are not
sure about (freelisting interview with 18-year-old woman, Pader).
Women who are HIV+ worry so much about • the fate of their children after they
have died (freelisting interview with 30-year-old woman, Kitgum).
Stay in the forum for Series forty-nine on the way ------>
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
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