Men who sexually abuse children with disabilities deserve to hang – says Commissioner

Mondo Kyateka, the Assistant Commissioner youths and children affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development

Mondo Kyateka, the Assistant Commissioner youths and children affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, condemns the men behind such acts saying that their actions have led to gross violations of children with disabilities.

“As a father my father, my wife always tells me every time she comes out of the labour ward that its painful, so if it’s painful to an adult woman what about a child of 13-14-15 even if it is 18 to me she is still a child so the worst form of child labour, child abuse and violence against children is making a child pregnant, making a child a bride and if it’s for any child, then a children with a disability it is a double jeopardy”.

For Kyateka, these men that make children with disabilities pregnant should be charged with murder because many of victims die either during the pregnancy or during labour.

Kyateka made these remarks after learning that there has been a spike in the number of child pregnancies among children with disabilities in Bunyoro subregion.

Damon Wamara, the Executive Director at the Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN) says that many of the victims are impregnated by men who have easy access to them as they are always abandoned at home by relatives as they attend to other issues including farming.

Without giving specific numbers, Wamara said that Hoima district has the largest number of cases of teenage pregnancies, according to the child rights NGOs operating in the region.

He said this while presenting a policy brief at the CSO symposium on Children Rights under the theme child-Focused in collaborative and cross cutting learning.

“In Bunyoro region specifically, the issue of teenage pregnancy, according to our member organizations working with Children with Disabilities…, Hoima district has the highest number of children living with disabilities who are sexually abused and are also teen mothers,” said Wamara.

He adds: “…in the first policy brief we call this a double tragedy First they have a bad disability that makes them not to fully enjoy their rights, and secondly somebody goes ahead and violates their right and makes them pregnant, it is a double tragedy,” Wamara .

On legal and policy framework civil society seems to be content with what the government has done so far.

“When we look at the legal and policy framework, we must say the Government has done well. Government has done well around the issue,” Wamara said.

He adds: “But as all of us know we prepare the laws and another country implements our laws. I don’t know when we will move to implementing our own laws”-Wamara.

He adds that for him it is inconceivable, barbaric and backward for a man to make a child pregnant or wife.

Secondly, we need to seriously think about an integrated service delivery, there is no way one single one organization can delivery services in a holistic manner to the children we are targeting so UCRNN can play a vital role to ensure that the different organization come and work together, not to compete but to complement each other.

For example, different organizations with different specialties should know how a referral system will work if a child with a disability, whose rights are abused or violated are to be helped.

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