Domestic violence
Domestic violence is any act done by the perpetrator which harms or injures the safety or wellbeing of the victim physically or mentally. Domestic violence takes various forms such as sexual abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, Physical and psychological abuse.
Forms of domestic violence:
- Physical abuse; assaults, causes bodily pain, harms or endangers the life of a person living in the same household. This may take the form of pushing, kicking, slapping, biting and any other form of physical assault.
- Harassment and to force a person living in the same household meet any unlawful demand of property. For example, it would constitute domestic violence if the person is forced to steal property or items for the perpetrator’s benefit.
- Economic abuse; depriving the person living in the same household of financial resources to which the person is entitled. (Examples of this kind of abuse include, refusal to pay salaries or allowances, disposal of household items without consent, prohibiting use of basic necessities to which a the person living in that household is entitled).
- Repeated insults, abuses, name-calling, it does not matter the language in which the insults or abuses are passed.
- Invasion of a person’s privacy, liberty.
- Sexual abuse; Examples, include sexual assault, rape and other sexual acts that humiliate the person[3].
- A threat and intimidation to cause the above also amounts to domestic violence.
If you are a domestic worker you can find more information about your rights following this link.
Note: All the above acts are prohibited by law and perpetrators who are found guilty could be sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment or a fine of 48 Currency points (960,000 Ugx)
[1] Section 18 of the HIV/ AIDS Prevention and Control Act, 2014 Mandates Medical practitioners to disclose the results of the HIV/AIDS test to ONLY the person tested.
[2] Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995, prohibits unlawful search of the person or the person’s property.
[3] We could make an exclusion of rape from this kind of sexual abuse. Rape carries a punishment that is graver.