UGANDAUGANDAIn a survey of 1,015 children at 25 public and private primary schools in Acholi, Lango, West Nile and Central regions, 81% of respondents reported having been beaten at school. Of those who had been beaten, 73% had been beaten by a teacher, 15% by other students and 12% by their parents or guardians. Children were also punished by being denied food for extended periods of time, locked up in rooms, assigned difficult work and forced to kneel in front of other children at school. Eighty-two per cent of children had seen their friends being caned. The study, conducted in April 2011 by ANPPCAN Uganda Chapter, also involved 52 professionals including teachers, head teachers, PTA members, police, government and non-government experts in the education and child protection fields at district and national level.
(Reported by Anppccan Uganda Chapter, 10 July 2011, www.anppcanug.org)
A 2011 report by Human Rights Watch documented corporal punishment of prisoners in Uganda, including beatings with batons, canes, sticks, whips and electric cable and wire, despite the prohibition of corporal punishment in the Prisons Act (2006). Children are sometimes detained with adults in prisons, even though this is prohibited. The report calls for efforts to end the use of corporal punishment and prosecution of persons who inflict it.
(Human Rights Watch, 2011, “Even Dead Bodies Must Work”: Health, Hard Labor, and Abuse in Ugandan Prisons)
A 2010 African Child Policy Forum report on violence against children with disabilities in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia documented a very high level of violence. Nearly a thousand 18-24 year olds took part in the study across the five countries, reporting on their experiences as children. In Uganda, 87% of the sample had experienced at least one type of physical violence during their childhood. The most commonly experienced type of physical violence was being hit, punched, kicked or beaten. Common perpetrators of physical violence included step-mothers (10.8%), mothers (9.5%), fathers (8.7%) and other relatives (15.7%). Across the five countries, 23% of the young people said that they had experienced physical violence which was “mostly discipline, reasonable and justified” and 27% said that they had experienced physical violence which was “mostly discipline but not reasonable or justified”. Twenty-six per cent said that they had experienced emotional violence which was “discipline, but not reasonable or justified”, and 22% that they had experienced emotional violence that was “disciplinary, reasonable and justified”. Across all five countries, more than half (54%) of those who had been physically beaten said they had suffered broken bones, teeth, bleeding or bruising; 2% had been permanently disabled; 21% required medical attention; 13% had to miss school or work; and 20% had needed rest at home. For all five countries, the majority of respondents with physical, visual and intellectual disabilities experienced physical violence more than 10 times. The report recommends prohibition of all corporal punishment, including in the home, as a way to minimise the risk of violence against children with disabilities.
(The African Child Policy Forum, 2010, Violence Against Children With Disabilities in Africa: Field Studies from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia, Addis Ababa: The African Child Policy Forum)
According to statistics from UNICEF relating to the period 2001-2007, of girls and women aged 15-49, 70% think that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances.
(UNICEF, 2009, Progress for Children: A report card on child protection, NY: UNICEF
www.childinfo.org/files/Progress_for_Children-No.8_EN.pdf)
A survey of 500 young women in Uganda aged 18-24 years concerning their childhood experiences of violence, undertaken by the Africa Child Policy Forum and published in 2006, found that 94.2% had been subjected to physical violence. Beating with an object was found to be the most prevalent form of physical violence (85.8%). Prevalence figures for other forms of physical violence were 55% for punching, 26.8% kicking, 47.8% hard work, 20.4% being choked/burned/stabbed, 9% having spicy/bitter food put in mouth, 18.2% being locked or tied up, and 52.8% being denied food. Girls were found to be most vulnerable to beating with an object when aged 10-13 years (57.1%), and to being hit/punched when aged 14-17 years (44%). Experiencing the violence more than ten times was more likely in the case of beating than other types of physical violence. Most beating with an object was carried out by male teachers (48.5%), followed by fathers (43.4%) and mothers (42.9%), and in 57.3% of cases medical attention was required. Most hitting/punching was carried out by fathers (22.9%), followed by mothers (17.1%) and brothers (15.6%), with medical attention required in 21.1% of cases. At school, girls were told they were beaten for being late, for misbehaving, or for being disrespectful. At home, the reasons given for beating or hitting included breaking/losing something, being disrespectful to their elders, or not doing housework.
(Stavropoulos, J., 2006, Violence Against Girls in Africa: A Retrospective Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, Addis Ababa, The African Child Policy Forum)
A 2005 study which included interviews with orphans living with guardians (often family members) reported that orphans experience corporal punishment daily to monthly, including slapping and caning with sticks and logs. The orphans reported experiencing more frequent and severe corporal punishment than other children, including the children of their guardians. Orphans were also spoken to more severely than other children. The motive for the severity and frequency of punishments was understood by the children to be “the guardians’ anger and frustration about having to care for the orphans when their resources were limited” (p. 9).
(World Vision International – Africa Office, 2005, Violence Against Children affected by HIV/AIDS: a case study of Uganda)
In-depth research into children’s experiences of violence against them was carried out in 2005 using a range of methods to look at the stories and opinions of 1,406 children aged 8-18 years (719 girls, 687 boys) and 1,093 adults (520 women, 573 men), including parents, teachers and community leaders, from five diverse districts. This included the administration of 1,000 questionnaires to children (in and out of school), of which 777 were valid returns, and 900 questionnaires to adults, of which 755 were valid returns. Other methods were focus groups, narrative role play, journal writing and interviews. Almost all children (98.3%) reported experiencing physical violence at home and/or school. The most common forms were caning, slapping and pinching, followed by burning, locking up, tying up and other (e.g. kneeling, slashing grass, cleaning latrines), all more common for boys than girls except slapping, pinching and other. Older boys were more likely to experience severe physical violence. Almost one third (31.3%) said they experienced physical violence at least once per week and 15% said it happened “every day”; 38.8% said it occurred mainly at home, 28.6% said mainly at school and 31.8% said both at school and home. Most adults (90%) agreed that in their communities children were deliberately beaten, with 37% saying children in their communities were “frequently mistreated”; 55.1% said “sometimes mistreated”. Most (91.3%) described using a combination of physical and emotional punishment, most commonly caning (78.3%), slapping (45.7%), pinching (42.8%), assigning excessive work (19.3%), and locking children up (11.4%), tying them up (3.4%) and burning them (2.9%). Apart from caning, these figures are significantly lower than those given by the children. Only 1.2% said they themselves never punished children. While 87.9% said they punished children to guide their behaviour, only 32.6% believed the punishment would change the behaviour. More than four out of five (81.7%) said they punished their own children and 57.9% said they felt comfortable punishing other children in the community. Of teachers, 80.1% reported punishing their own children and 60.4% their students. Of community leaders, 89.4% punished their own children compared with 22.4% punishing others’ children.
(Naker, D., 2005, Violence Against Children – The Voices of Ugandan Children and Adults, Raising Voices/Save the Children in Uganda)
Research reported in 2004 looked at the problem of violence against children in Uganda and found that physical abuse was the most common form. More than nine out of ten children (93.3%) reported having experienced physical violence including caning, slapping and pinching. Of those who experienced physical violence, 16.1% said it occurred at least once a week, 15% said it occurred daily.
(Dipak, 2004, "Raising Voices Uganda", cited in Derib, A., 2005, Regional Report on Physical and Humiliating Punishment Against Children, Save the Children)
In research by Save the Children UK focusing on deprivation and criminal behaviour, carried out in 2002, 116 children who had been convicted of theft and children at the national rehabilitation centre, aged 10-19 years and 71 parents/guardians were interviewed. The prohibition of caning in the juvenile justice system under the Children's Statute was perceived as a weakness by 14% of parents. The research confirmed that despite the law, children are tortured and beaten in police stations. 52% of parents said they normally disciplined their children by caning.
(Kakama, P.T., 2002, Deprivation of Basic Needs as a Motivator for Criminal Activities among Children, Save the Children UK)