Exploring the realization of the women’s constitutional rights in Soroti municipality in light of the Uganda human rights commission services

Abstract

The research sought to establish the existing women’s constitutional rights in Uganda, to assess the extent the women’s constitutional rights have been realized and to explore how best women’s constitutional rights can be realized in Soroti Municipality in light of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) services. The research adopted the case study design that employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study utilized a sample of 50 respondents that were selected through random and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from the respondents. The collected data was analyzed thematically and the findings were presented in frequency distribution tables and figures. The research was guided by independent, dependent and intervening variables with objectives to establish the existing women’s constitutional rights, assess the extent they have been realized and how best they can be realized. The research study found out that the major women’s constitutional rights in Uganda were in Article 21(1), Article 21(2), Article 31(1), Article 32(2) and Article 33(1-5)of the Constitution whose enforcement was very minimal in the realization of women’s constitutional rights. However, it was revealed that women’s constitutional rights can best be realized through a number of measures such as promoting education and awareness of the women’s constitutional rights, effective implementation of the national gender policy, effective prohibition of negative cultural practices against women, empowering women on all social, economic and political spheres of life and enacting more laws to enforce the constitutional rights of women. In conclusion, despite the impressive women’s rights protective laws, various measures and attempts by the UHRC to address women’s experiences, there is still a challenge in the full realization of women’s constitutional rights in Uganda. The researcher recommended that guaranteeing effective enforcement of women’s rights laws and empowering women socially, economically and politically is paramount in realizing women’s constitutional rights