Kidnapped and forced to marry their rapist: ending ‘courtship rape’ in Uganda

In Karamoja, one of the country’s poorest regions, schoolgirls face forced sex and abduction as an accepted route to marriage

The walk to school can be dangerous in Karamoja. In this region of north-east Uganda, one of the poorest in the east African country, marriages can begin with a man abducting a woman, raping her and keeping her captive at his house until it is unacceptable for her to return to the life she had. Girls on their way to school are a target.

“Most children drop out of school when their mothers cannot always escort them. Other mothers, out of fear, stop sending their girls to school,” says Christine Akello, from the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers in Karamoja.