“Flygtninges problemer i Uganda er ikke voldtægt eller homoseksualitet, men mad og husly”, siger ugandisk minister, som mener, at emnet tages op af “de hvide” og NGOerne for at få penge til deres projekter – landets nye anti-homolove forstærker angiveligt homofobi og fremmedhad.
KAMPALA, 30 April 2014 (IRIN): The needs of male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence living as refugees in Uganda, of whom there are several hundred, are poorly met, with recent legislation against homosexuality making matters worse, concludes to a new report.
According to one humanitarian official working in the field who preferred anonymity, “many survivors have medical needs due to the assault and have undergone a series of surgeries (kirurgiske indgreb)”.
“However, due to limited medical services available in Uganda, the assault still affects their physical and emotional health. Some of the medical conditions expressed include back pain, leg pain, STI and STD [sexually transmitted infections and diseases] and bleeding.”
“Much more progress is required in interventions addressing the challenges faced by male survivors of sexual violence” especially in the fields of health, stigmatization and security, according to the report.
The report was issued earlier this month by Makerere University’s Refugee Law Project (RLP) to mark the second anniversary of “Men of Hope”, one of several self-help groups it supports.
“Just ignore it”
One barrier to such progress is that sexual violence against men is not widely recognized.
“Just ignore it,” Uganda’s Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Musa Ecweru told IRIN.
“The problem of refugees in Uganda is not male rape or homosexuality. It is a minor issue. It is being promoted and made prominent by the whites and NGOs who want funding,” he said.
“Our basic concern for the refugees is food, shelter, water, health and their safety. Male rape, homosexuality, is not an African issue,” he said.
According to the RLP report, such dismissive (affærdigende) attitudes are also common among health workers.
“This is not only peculiar to (kendetegnende for) private medical facilities but also government hospitals. Medical personnel who don’t believe that male rape exists, and who frequently allege that those who report such cases are either crazy or homosexuals, have further victimized some survivors,” it said.
“They look at us as crazy persons and homosexuals”
Men of Hope’s president, Alain Kabenga, illustrated this point:
“When we go to health facilities to seek treatment, the health workers just laugh and look at us as crazy persons and homosexuals,” he told IRIN.
“Public hospitals say they don’t have the budget for male rape victims.”
According to the RLP report “this affects access to health services by survivors who fail to see appropriate personnel or are given painkillers just to blot the pain, leaving the condition worse after a period of time.”
Health Minister Elioda Tumwesigye dismissed any suggestion of second-class treatment.
“I have not read the report. But it is not true that we discriminate [against] patients who come to our health facilities,” he told IRIN.
“We don’t ask patients who they are and how they got the sickness. Our duty is to protect and prolong life,” he said.
A “crime of power”
RLP is currently supporting 370 male survivors of sexual violence in support groups in Kampala, as well as western and northern Uganda. Some 320 of these are refugees from the DR Congo.
The UN Refugee Agency and Interaid, a Ugandan humanitarian group which campaigns for the rights of disadvantaged people, have an additional 67 male survivors in the gender-based violence (GBV) information database.
According to an RLP working paper, sexual violence against both men and women is a “crime of power” intended to degrade (fornedre). But in conflict situations, men can be deliberately targeted “in part, to attack males as leaders and protectors [to] diminish their masculinity”.
“Stigma (social forstødelse) and discrimination is one of the major challenges male survivors continue to grapple with. Much as xenophobia (fremmedhad) is a common to all refugees and asylum seekers, the situation is worse for male survivors because male rape is a taboo in many cultures,” the report said.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), promulgated (stadfæstet) by President Yoweri Museveni in February, “not only reinforced homophobia but also heightened xenophobia,” it said.
Under the new law, persons found guilty of “homosexual acts” can be jailed for up to 14 years, and life sentences are given in “aggravated” cases, such as those committed by an HIV-positive person, or those involving minors (mindreårige), the disabled and serious offenders.
“Confusion”
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/100018/uganda-s-anti-gay-law-reinforces-homophobia-xenophobia-says-report
