Harsh reality

A few nights ago I was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of a women screaming. It was a long terrifying scream: the sound of someone in fear for her life. Her screams went on for several minutes and with each passing second I felt her pain, her distress, her fear and my own helplessness to do anything about it, except to pray. I knew that as a 'mzungu' (white person) to get involved would not only put me in danger but also potentially increase her suffering.

The screams were then replaced by shouting: the angry shouting of other women and men. Ugandans are not afraid to get involved when they think a crime has been committed. If a bag is snatched in the street then passers-by will give chase to the perpetrator. If two vehicles collide then a crowd will quickly gather and everyone will have an opinion about who was at fault. My guess is that on hearing the screaming the neighbours did what I did not and got up out of bed and went to her rescue.

As part of my work this week I came across some statistics about gender-based violence in Ugandan and sadly it is all too common. One report suggested that 40% of women experienced violence and abuse at the hands of their partner on a regular basis and another said that 60% of women would experience such violence at some point. That means that out of every five Ugandan women I meet three of them will have been through an experience as terrifying to them as my neighbour went through this week.

Those screams brought home to me the harsh reality of life for many Ugandan women in a way that statistics never can.