Women of Uganda

In Uganda, polygamy is legal for men, and adultery committed by husbands is tolerated. Not so for women. For the women in Uganda, adultery is a crime, with resulting shame and stigma. However, the Uganda Supreme Court has recently agreed that the 1995 national constitution ensures equal protection under the law, and struck down criminal adultery. This is a profound victory for these women as now the husbands and wives are equal before the laws of adultery. Striking the criminal adultery law now makes it easier for women of Uganda to obtain divorces from cheating husbands, whereas before, women had to prove not only adultery, but cruelty and desertion (while the husbands only needed to prove adultery). This is important because, previously, women had to endure whatever diseases her husband brought home if she could not prove cruelty and desertion, but now she can leave him before she becomes infected with any venereal diseases (where HIV-AIDS is so prevalent). Adultery is now sufficient grounds for divorce for both men and women in Uganda.

Other decisions were ruled upon pertaining to inheritance. Although no new succession laws have been issued to replace them, the laws giving widowers 100 percent of deceased wives� property and widows only 15 percent were nullified. Also nullified were laws giving a deceased husbands� family full rights to a widow�s children.

Slowly, but surely, women�s rights are being protected by the law in Uganda, even though, in reality, they are not yet being exercised. At least awareness of women�s rights is in the works!

Source: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3215/context/cover/