Human rights advocates raise alarm over sexual violence in Uganda

Women’s rights advocates from across East Africa, led by Kenyan opposition leader Martha Karua, have raised alarm over what they termed systematic, state-sanctioned sexual violence against women in Uganda following the country’s January 2026 General Election.

They warn that the alleged abuses pose a grave threat to human dignity and the rule of law.

Speaking on February 8, the coalition of African and global women leaders, academics, lawyers and human rights defenders said the violations reported in Uganda transcend national boundaries and demand urgent continental and international attention.

According to the advocates, Ugandan security forces have allegedly deployed sexual assault, forced nudity, public stripping and intimidation as tools of political repression, particularly targeting women associated with opposition figures.

“The atrocities currently being visited upon the women of Uganda are not merely an Ugandan crisis; they are a stain on the conscience of the African continent,” Karua said.

She described the violence as a direct assault on the universal principles of human dignity that bind all decent human beings across the globe.

The coalition said security operations have increasingly targeted women in their most private spaces, with bedrooms and bathrooms turned into sites of humiliation and terror.

“When the privacy of a woman’s bedroom is violated and her body is treated as a battlefield, the soul of a nation,and by extension our region,is in mortal peril,” Karua warned.

Several cases were cited to demonstrate what the advocates said was a clear pattern rather than isolated incidents.

Among them is the alleged assault and torture of Barbara Itungo Kyagulanyi during a night raid on her home by security officers, an attack that reportedly left her unconscious and hospitalised under armed guard after weeks of restricted movement and limited access to family and medical care.

The women also pointed to incidents in which women were allegedly interrogated while undressed, dragged from showers or bedrooms and denied the opportunity to dress before arrest.

Those named include academic Dr Zahara Nampewo, opposition organiser Doreen Kaija and civil society leader Sarah Bireete.

The advocates said such acts amount to deliberate humiliation designed to degrade women personally while intimidating political opponents and their supporters.

Dr Agness Meroka,one of the women advocates alleged that abuse of women extends into detention facilities, with reports of mistreatment during arrest and while in custody. According to the advocates, these accounts point to a deeper institutional problem in which violations against women are normalised within the security system.

Concern was also raised over enforced disappearances, particularly of opposition leaders Dr Lina Zedriga and Jolly Jackline Tukamushaba, who were allegedly abducted by security forces and held incommunicado despite court applications seeking their production.

The women accused state agencies of undermining judicial oversight, warning that such practices erode public trust in the justice system and inflict prolonged suffering on families.

The advocates placed responsibility on Uganda’s political and military leadership, arguing that public conduct and rhetoric from senior officials have created an environment in which misogyny and impunity flourish.

“When the Commander of the Defence Forces publicly disgraces women, it provides a green light for forces under his command to treat women with similar contempt, brutality and violence,” said advocate Mary Kathomi.

They called on African and international institutions, including the African Union, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the United Nations and regional blocs, to investigate the allegations and hold Uganda accountable under its regional and international obligations.

“We express solidarity with Ugandan victims and pledge to continue speaking out until accountability is achieved, silence in the face of such allegations would amount to complicity,” Kathomi said.