Reflections on Working in Development
IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Community Participation In The Face Of Gender And Sexual Inequity by David Lane
CONTRADICTIONS
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victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband.
I In 2002, respected physician and mother, Dr. Kazibwe,
had been serving as vice-president of uganda for nearly six years. She was a model for ugandan women and for how far the nation had progressed on the subject of gender equity. However, sad and surprising cracks in the story began to surface when it was revealed that she was filing for divorce because of the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband. In his own defence, the husband said, “she had come home late… and could give no satisfactory reason” and “she had teamed up with some women politicians of whom I did not approve”
n her home she is not the vice-president, she is a wife, she’s a mother.” This was the unapologetic and honest response by a Ugandan woman when the Ugandan vice- president Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe was the
(2002 BBC article). The incident was widely publicized in the Ugandan media. It speaks volumes to the social and cultural complexities of not only Uganda, but of the long-standing global struggle for gender equity. For those continuously fighting for social justice, it is enough to make one’s heart sink and blood boil. In the face of such complexities, what role can civil society play? For international development practitioners, gender
equity ranks among the top crosscutting issues to be addressed in any development initiative. It is with regularity that we hear, “women are overwhelmingly bearing the burden of the HIV/AIDS crisis” or “young girls still lag far behind boys in terms of access to education”. While gender equity, or inequity, continues to pose difficult challenges, issues surrounding sexual rights seem to present even more formidable barriers. Issues associated with violence against gays, the right to same-sex marriage and bullying directed at the LGBTTQ community persist globally in some nations. The public knowledge of one’s sexual orientation could cost individuals their freedom or
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