UGANDA

THEMATIC ISSUES
many others respected and ascribed to it. One woman in Kitgum commented;
“The world has gone crazy, how can a woman bring more
money than a man in the house?”
Challenges to the traditional role of the man are increasing as women become better
educated and increasingly hear Government and civil society organisations emphasize
the rights of women. Increasing access to education has resulted in more opportunities
to earn money, and affirmative action under the NRM regime has also benefited women.
Periods of displacement have further upset gender patterns and undermined the usual
position of men as protectors and providers, in part because humanitarian and human
rights organisations have introduced and given prominence to a human rights discourse
promoting women rights, not least in conflict and post-conflict areas.
The educational and economic empowerment of women was held to be a source of
domestic conflict by both men and women as it reportedly challenges the traditional
authority of men over women. In Tororo, women held themselves partly responsible
for domestic violence. They said that young and financially successful women have
come to misunderstand the institution of marriage. When they earn their own money,
they do not share resources with their husbands and they ‘become selfish’. In Arua,
the phenomenon of women earning more money than their husbands was illustrated
through the phenomenon known as ‘amario’ - men who marry rich women for survival.
In those circumstances, the traditional understanding that men are responsible for
earning money for their children’s school fees is undermined.
The Government was blamed to an extent for
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