Biira Samanya with her baby.Photo by Scovi Atuhaire
“…girls
should be strong during hardships,” Biira says, suggesting that it is only
strength and the will of God that can make one survive through.
THURSDAY
SEPTEMBER 8 2016
In
Summary
Many young girls continue to
suffer at the hands of people who ought to have protected them. Research
indicates that many are forced to drop out of school and married off at an
early age.
By
FELIX BASIIME & SCOVIA ATUHAIRE
It is a bright Monday morning
in Kasese District but Samanya Biira is not anywhere around school or intending
to get there any soon.
In 2015 the 15-year-old girl
was asked to leave school because she could no longer be sustained without
paying dues or buying scholastic materials.
However, within that period,
she says, a man convinced her that he would pay her school fees but instead
turned against his promise defiling her and impregnating her in the process.
The case was reported to
police but the man, whose name has been omitted because he is still a suspect,
is still at large.
Fortunately, Biira was
allowed to sit her Primary Leaving Exams and she had to do some of her papers
on the hospital bed in 2015 after she went into labour in the middle of exams.
She obtained 26 aggregates.
Joining secondary school
She hopes to attain secondary education at her preferred school choice, Mugunu Secondary School because it is nearer to her home. This will afford her the luxury of looking after the baby as well as attending school.
She hopes to attain secondary education at her preferred school choice, Mugunu Secondary School because it is nearer to her home. This will afford her the luxury of looking after the baby as well as attending school.
For
Biira it was a hard lesson but it has made her grow and see things in a more
mature way at her age.
“…girls
should be strong during hardships,” Biira says, suggesting that it is only
strength and the will of God that can make one survive through.
Biira
is a mirror image of the plight of the girl-child that continues to be abused
in much of the Rwenzori sub-region.
Jostas
Mwebembezi, an IT personnel at Ride Africa, says there is a gap in providing
sex education, according to a research study that was conducted about sex
education in western Uganda in 2015.
Ride
Africa, a non-governmental organisation, integrates technology that amplifies
the reporting of different forms of child abuses in the Rwenzori sub-region
including early child marriage.
“Our
children might be at risk of having sex early. We have a lot of trouble trying
to educate our children about sex education,” the research findings released in
February read in part.
The
research was carried out in the districts of Bundibugyo, Hoima, Kabarole,
Ntoroko, Kyegegwa, Kamwenge, Kasese, Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Masindi, and Buliisa.
According
to Mwebembezi, one in every four adolescent girls in western Uganda has had a
teenage pregnancy. Girls with primary level education, Mwebembezi says, are
twice more likely to have had sex compared to those in secondary schools.
The
research findings also shows that girls who have never attended school are 50
per cent more likely to be sexually active with 53 per cent more likely to be
married at a very early age.
About
14 per cent of young women in the age group of 15 and 24 had their first sexual
intercourse early in life, the research findings indicates.
More
than 31,000 children are estimated to be heading households in Uganda,
according to data compiled by Uganda Bureau of Statistics during the 2014
National Housing and Population census.
Research
findings show that only four out of 10 young males and females aged between 15
and 24 have comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention while one in every
four girls aged between 15 and 19 has begun child-bearing or is pregnant with
their first child.
Vulnerable
children
Nearly all Ugandan children (96 per cent) are vulnerable with 43 per cent (7.3 million) suffering moderate from vulnerability while 8 per cent (1.3 million) suffer from critical vulnerability.
Nearly all Ugandan children (96 per cent) are vulnerable with 43 per cent (7.3 million) suffering moderate from vulnerability while 8 per cent (1.3 million) suffer from critical vulnerability.
Up
to two million children aged between five and 17 years in Uganda are engaged in
some form of work with up to 507,000 involved in hazardous work while between
eight and 10 children in primary and secondary school experience sexual
violence.
In
Kasese District, nearly 74 children are abused every month in five sub-counties
while two in every five women aged between 20 and 24 were married or in a union
before 18 years, according to Mwebembezi.
A
survey conducted by Joy for Children Uganda in 2013 in the mountainous sub-counties
of Kabarole District in Karangura, Kabonero, and Kateebwa mainly inhabited by
the Bakonjo, found that child marriage is the leading cause of school dropouts
among girls. At Nyarukamba Primary School in Karangura Sub-county, the rate of
school dropout of girls was at 15 per cent in 2009 and 10 per cent in 2012. The
girls are married off in exchange for property including cows, goats and other
household items.
The
same survey indicates that 14 of those dropping out did not sit their Primary
Leaving Examination, especially at Nyarukamba Primary School in Karangura
Sub-county.
Many of them, research findings shows, are negotiated into marriage by their parents.
Cases have been reported to police but many are never investigated to their logical conclusion.
Many of them, research findings shows, are negotiated into marriage by their parents.
Cases have been reported to police but many are never investigated to their logical conclusion.
Why
early marriages are high
According to Mwebembezi, teenagers from poor backgrounds are more likely to start child-bearing early compared to those in relatively well-off households.
According to Mwebembezi, teenagers from poor backgrounds are more likely to start child-bearing early compared to those in relatively well-off households.
This
also applies to teenagers with no formal education that are thrice more likely
to start child-bearing early as opposed to those with secondary education.
Research
conducted by Unicef indicates that girls who marry before 18 years are more
likely to suffer domestic violence such as sexual violence at the hands of
their partners.
Young
married girls also tend to be more isolated, exacerbating their vulnerability
and are more likely to extend the vulnerability to their children, thus
perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty and gender discrimination.
About
Samanya Biira
Diversification
Diversification
Biira
is the fifth born in a family of eight children. She was born in Nyamatunga 1,
Bukangala parish, Mugunyu Sub-county in Kasese District.
Her father died while still young surviving with her peasant mother, Kyakimwa Nakyanzi.
Biira plans to start farming with the view of planting eggplants and other crops for sell.
She believes through farming she will get a source of income that she can use to look after her baby.
