The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.”

Violence against women and girls is a serious major human rights and public health concern. Violence against women encompasses a wide range of abuses, from physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family and in the general community.

Violence against women takes many forms including battering (beating, slapping), sexual abuse of women and girls (rape including marital rape, coerced sex, harassment), female genital mutilation, intimidation and sexual harassment at school and at the place of work, forced prostitution, trafficking for sex and sex tourism, child marriage, widow inheritance and cleansing (both of which increasing HIV infection risk), intimate partner violence, dowry-related violence etc.

In Uganda, violence against women is widespread.
The 2006 Uganda Demographic House Survey (UDHS) found that:

• 60 percent of women (15-19) years had ever experienced physical violence. With 67 percent of those who had experienced physical violence saying an intimate partner was responsible.
• 39 percent reported experiencing sexual violence. With 44 percent of women who had experienced sexual violence saying their current husband or partner was responsible.
• 24 percent of the women reported forced first sexual encounter.

Though violence against women is very rampant, the shame associated with it may contribute to the fact that most women often suffer it in silence, afraid of repercussions and stigma and never tell anyone.

The abused women and girls are more likely to suffer from depression, loss of self-esteem, anxiety, sexual dysfunction and many reproductive health problems including miscarriage and still birth, premature delivery, HIV and Sexuality Transmitted Infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Sex = male and female
Gender = masculine and feminine

Sex describes the biological differences between man and women.
Only females have organs and hormones in their bodies that enable them to menstruate, get pregnant, give birth to children and breastfeed. Only males have organs that produce sperms and make women pregnant. The sex differences are the work of nature and don’t change from society/culture to society/culture.
Gender  on the other hand describes the differences in the way that (men and boys) and (women and girls) are expected to behave; their way of dressing, the work they do, the family responsibilities, their status , the way they speak, etc.

Masculine = what society expects of men and boys.
Feminine = what society expects of women and girls.

What is considered masculine or feminine may differ from society/culture to society/culture. Gender role refers to the characteristics and behaviours that different cultures attribute to the sexes.

In Uganda, men are expected to greet while standing, be courageous, pay dowry and financially support the family with the responsibility for school fees lying mainly on the men. Women are expected to greet while kneeling, care for the sick, cook food and do all the house cores and to be submissive.
In some societies, it is women who pay dowry and don’t even kneel when greeting.

“Real man “   = male sex + masculine social role
“Real woman” = female + feminine social role

Bad touches constitute a category of sexual abuse that is suffered silently by most women for various reasons. Things like touching your breasts, stroking your bums, caressing your thighs in class or taxis, are incidences that are not right and safe for you as young people.
Because of the fact that they are common and yet less punished, it becomes every young girl’s responsibility to guard her self from such humiliating touches.

Through dressing better, in less revealing clothes, one could limit the occurrence of bad touches as there will not be much exposure to whoever wants to touch; adopting better sitting postures say in classes would block any chances of a boy from caressing ones ajar thighs; choosing hangout spots should be done carefully as some places are common with boys and men that would touch every descent and not woman or girl.

Your ways of interaction with the male sex should be straight forward and should not send mixed signals and lastly girls and women need to check their time of movement in certain areas, just so to keep themselves safe.