The BBC Africa Eye charges itself with the responsibility of unearthing harmful practices and injustices in the troubled underbellies of African countries.
For its latest documentary, the BBC Africa Eye took its team to the Northern part of Uganda that’s been rife with cases of teenage pregnancies, sexual violence, and incest. According to a report, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, reports of teenage pregnancies in girls aged 10-14 increased by 300%. The Northern region had witnessed an increase in sexual violence and internal displacement of people since it was plagued by two decades of insurgency led by the warlord Joseph Kony.
Dr. Baifa Arwinyo, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Gulu Regional General Hospital, spoke to the BBC about the complexities of underage pregnancies. “From the last financial year’s report, about 23% of our pregnancies were teenagers. If I’m talking of teenage mothers, all of them are defiled.” She added: “Because they are young, their bodies are not developed to handle delivery. And you’ll find that young mothers are the highest proportion of those dying of obstructed labour.”
The Africa Eye team also spoke to victims of the decades-long insurgency in that region. It was a grim tale of loss, trauma, and helplessness. Akeh Grace shared a harrowing tale of how she lost her sister and twin children to the insurgency and how she tried to raise, Eunice, her sister’s daughter like her child.
The documentary offers a painful insight into the ordeals women and young girls in these parts of Uganda have been facing for more than two decades. How justice is considered a mere trifle by the justice system, the complicity of the security forces, and how victims are unable to properly pursue justice in the face of poverty and intimidation.
It also paints a vivid picture of the arduous task the NGOs have to surmount to protect and take care of these young girls.
Watch the documentary below: