In 4th grade I sat in Mrs. Atkinson’s classroom with all the other fourth grade girls and watched a movie about our bodies while the 4th grade boys sat across the hall watching a movie about their bodies. In 5th grade I sat in Ms. Test’s classroom watching a video about a boy’s body and having babies. In the next classroom over, the boys were watching a video about what happens to girls during menstruation. And, then the ceiling tiles fell down in their classroom.
In Health 1, my sophomore year of high school, I remember watching Mrs. Montano put her entire arm in a condom and say, “see? Don’t ever let a boy tell you he’s too big to fit inside a condom. Make sure he wears one!”
That’s what I remember about sex education in America.
Girls and boys in Uganda do not get that experience. Not least of all because there are no televisions in classrooms and limited movies about growing up in local languages, but because sex education in schools is illegal in Uganda. It is now the sole responsibility of Ugandan parents to discuss sexual education with their children, a topic that is routinely ignored in the household.
In October 2016, the gender minster, Janat Mukwaya, sent out a press release banning comprehensive sex education in schools and in non-school settings until a regulated government policy could be formed. This came after a petition by the Family Life Network was presented to Parliament asking for a ban on all sexual education in the country. The Family Life Network operates under the mantra “restoration of family values and morals.” It is also credited for their part in passing the 2014 law that criminalized homosexuality that was eventually overturned.
Mukwaya, a University of London graduate, stated sexual education was causing a decline in national values. The Under Secretary at the Ministry of Education says, ““LGBT [issues], masturbation and the like are practices alien to Ugandan culture and values.”
On Wednesday, April 19th 2017, several non-governmental organizations will meet the Ugandan government in court. The NGOs, Save the Children and The International Planned Parenthood Federation included, are suing the Ugandan government to allow sex education back in schools.
However, the East African Legislative Assembly has introduced a bill that would guarantee adolescents, aged 10-19, access to contraceptive and abortions. Countries included in the East African Community are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. A representative from Rwanda at the EALA explains, “the law intends to prevent unwanted pregnancies, risky abortion and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/Aids and ensure quality sexual reproductive health care, education and all services for people in EAC [East African Community].” Many Ugandans in Parliament have stated they will oppose East African Community Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Bill 2017 if it comes to pass.
In Uganda, half the population is under the age of 18, without sex education many fear an increase in the spread of HIV/AIDS and early pregnancies. “We have already started to experience backlash to the EAC bill from religious groups in Uganda, because in Uganda religion and morality has become a more acceptable premise in the making of sexual and reproductive health and rights laws and policies than scientific data and evidence,” explains the program manager for The Center of Human Rights and Development, the main NGO suing the Education Ministry.