Locations16 Days of Activism 2024: From a GBV survivor to a Community Champion
November 25, 2024
Audrey Ayeta, at Genesis Skilling Center in Malaba district. In partnership with the EU-UN Spotlight initiative, she trains school dropouts, teenage mothers and GBV survivors
According to the Uganda Police Force (UPF) Annual Crime Reports of 2021-2023, thousands of cases in relation to domestic violence and sexual assault are reported every year, in 2023 over 14,681 cases of domestic violence were registered and 14,846 cases of sexual assault were also reported, these figures are either stagnant or increase every year. It should be noted that both men and women experience all forms of violence in the country, but the greater number of victims are women and girls.
Ayeta Audrey a resident of Malaba district, one of Uganda’s border districts, is a survivor of gender-based violence and trafficking. After finishing university, Audrey decided to get married and lived a happy life together with her family. As time went on, her husband’s character started changing drastically, with him often beating her and abusing her in public, even in front of her children and neighbours. It went on and on until she could not take it anymore and she decided to leave the marriage and start a new life.
Pupils of Genesis Primary school in Owesit Kalait, Malaba district.
I left home and decided to go back to my parent’s house, and while there my friends told me of an opportunity to work as a restaurant attendant, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I quickly applied through a recruitment firm and was taken up together with a group of other women and was promised a salary of $542 per month she said.
On reaching her new work destination, she noticed she was instead assigned a role of a domestic help, and not a restaurant attendant as earlier mentioned to her. “I was told that instead of being a restaurant attendant, I would work as a domestic help instead, and I had to take it because I had no other option, so I started working at a mansion of three men, while immensely being subjected to violence and sometimes given little or no pay at all, as if this was not enough, I was always being trafficked to other locations and countries she said.
After years of vast human rights abuse in the UAE, Audrey succeeds to return home, broken, and in pain. “When I finally succeeded to come back home, I quickly got admitted at Mbale Regional Referral hospital, where I nursed wounds, obtained while working in the UAE she said. It was at this this point that she meets a trainer under the European Union – United Nations Spotlight Initiative (UN-EU Spotlight Initiative) that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was implementing in her community with a complete focus on ending all forms of violence against women and girls.
Audrey Ayeta and some beneficiaries during a session at Genesis Skilling Center where GBV survivors are taught various skills in tailoring, shoe making, brick making, bookmaking to mention
Audrey became one of the first beneficiaries for the EU-UN Spotlight initiative receiving a start-up grant and firsthand training, in tailoring, shoe making, brick making, teaching, bookmaking to mention. She even went a step further and started a group of 15 women, bringing together those who have also faced similar challenges. Today, Audrey is a proud owner of Genesis primary school, Genesis Skilling Center and a Joint Book store where she trains Gender based violence survivors, inclusive of street children, former victims of trafficking, street walkers, widows and orphans.
I am happy that my life has now changed for the better, and I am now affecting others with related stories in my community. I have opened a skilling centre that skills GBV survivors, street walkers, school dropouts, teenage mothers, street children, I have also opened a primary school and a joint bookstore where my employees are former GBV survivors. I am grateful to UNDP for changing my life through the UN-EU Spotlight initiative.Audrey Ayeta, GBV survivor
Audrey’s story is one of the reasons, UNDP with support from the Government of Uganda continues to fight for a country free of violence against women and girls. This vice is a persistent barrier to human development as it harms individuals, families and communities, increasingly putting pressure on social and economic costs.
Audrey Ayeta at the joint bookstore in Tororo where she displays and sells books they make. Below are some beneficiaries making books.
UNDP’s achievements under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative
In partnership with the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office, UNDP established a GBV shelter and reception center in Amudat and Terego respectively, providing survivors with safe spaces for support services, including legal aid and vocational training. Male champions were also engaged in community campaigns to combat harmful practices like early marriage and female genital mutilation.
In partnership with Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, UNDP has recognized 40 private sector companies with gold, silver and bronze seals for their contribution in promoting gender equality, women’s participation, leadership and elimination of gender-based violence in the workplace. Makerere University became the first Ugandan public institution to sign up for the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions.
As part of the pre-events for the 2024 Elgon Half Marathon, UNDP organized community awareness walks in Amudat and Tororo, reaching over 10,000 individuals. These walks focused on raising awareness about ending gender-based violence (GBV), promoting violence-free communities, and advocating for access to sexual and reproductive health rights, as well as the goal of ending HIV/AIDS by 2030. Additionally, UNDP facilitated dialogues between refugee and host communities, engaging 2,444 participants in discussions on preventing domestic violence, forced and child marriages, and GBV. These efforts are integral to building safer, more resilient communities.
Gender equality, the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), is the unifying goal for all 17 SDGs. Achieving it is essential for realizing goals such as ending poverty (Goal 1), ensuring food security (Goal 2), promoting health (Goal 3), providing education for all (Goal 4), fostering decent work (Goal 8), and reducing inequalities (Goal 10). Inequality undermines social and economic development, hampers poverty reduction, and erodes individual self-worth. As we approach this anniversary, it is crucial for all of us to strengthen our commitment to eliminating violence against women and girls, and to continue advancing gender equality as a cornerstone of global progress.
By Joel Akena, Communications Officer, UNDP Uganda