IN THE PICTURE
21
“ I asked myself,‘ Oh, Christine, now you can’ t even protect this woman?” In case you are wondering, Christine did manage to help this woman, who now lives with her parents and children. But that’ s not always possible.
The problem with many societies around the world is they are still deeply patriarchal, which means that women there are more likely to be harmed than protected by its laws. For Christine, protecting women is frequently a matter of life and death. According to the UN, 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence and, every year, half of the women killed worldwide were murdered by partners or relatives.
Christine understands the empowerment of women beyond social and economic changes. She explains:“ You can never empower women without taking into account the men in their lives.”
When asked how she does not lose faith, she explains that passion matters:“ When you’ re truly committed to changing lives, you will find reasons to pick yourself up and continue the fight”. Then she goes on to share a personal recipe, which involves having likeminded people around to reach out to, understanding that life has to move on and managing stress.“ Otherwise, you’ ll just get destroyed”, she says.
Coming from a country with
The problem with many societies around the world is they are still deeply patriarchal, which means that women there are more likely to be harmed than protected by its laws an impressive gender-gap, where the payment of a bride price is legally supported, on the grounds that it is a much appreciated cultural practice, I ask Christine how her life turned out so differently. Without hesitating, she says:“ I am very proud of my father”. Because her father valued education so much, she was encouraged to seek professional development; and because he loved her so much, he always respected her life choices. Making her own choices brought her this far.
Christine now wants to focus on advocacy and research to inform policy-making in Uganda.“ I come from a country where there are still no laws to protect women, which is shameful.” Her belief is that the way to fight oppression starts with providing women with supportive institutions that allows them to speak up and be heard.
Exchange to change January 2017