Background on Women in Uganda
Our "house mom," Alice, and her son in the kitchen
Roles and Responsibilities of Women
Women possess great responsibility in rural Uganda performing work in the informal sector of the economy. Like the women in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, a woman's day is "focused on caring for family and preparation of food--tasks that renew themselves each time the sun rises" (Nuttall 2005:191). The tasks that women must complete are seemingly endless: they care for their children, cook meals for the family, tend to livestock, fetch water, chop firewood to be used to prepare food, and care for the home. Childcare is a huge responsibility for these women, often caring for 5-8 children of their own. With high maternal mortality rates, some families care for the children of relatives or friends, increasing the burden of childcare. Aside from the usual childcare responsibilities, mothers are also responsible for taking their children to clinics when they fall ill, which may require a long walk lasting up to two hours and an even longer waiting period. Many scholars note the burden of unending work for women in developing countries (Tushabe 2009; Von Massow 2000)
In addition to these duties, women may also possess other responsibilities outside the home. Some women are formally employed in the community while others assist running a local shop or on the family farm. Although my interview data indicated that most households had no source of income, women typically remained dependent on their husbands for food security and/or economic support. This dependence limited the autonomy of women in the local community, often forced to comply with the wishes of their husbands or face the difficult realities of divorce and single motherhood in an economically depraved region. To read the story of a woman in this difficult situation, click here.
Household Norms and Family Planning
Conducting interviews in the villages gave me insight into the norms for local households, with most interviewees indicating large household size (6-10 people in each small home constructed of smear—mud mixed with cow dung), high pregnancy rates, frequent illness, low educational attainment, inadequate economic resources, and patriarchal household structure. Formal employment in the locality was scarce; most households relied on subsistence farming and earned no formal wage. With many women facing pressure from their husbands to have many children to convey a high status, my village resembles the Mexican village identified by Browner (2000); she notes that “women found themselves under constant pressure to be prolific. This was despite the fact that the Mexican state was supporting a strongly antinatalist agenda, which it sought to implement by means of widely distributed contraceptive services and extensive propaganda” (Browner 2000:777). These similarities continue, as the Ugandan government also encourages family planning services to lower fertility rates.
Yet despite the availability of family planning services, household size and interview responses regarding the use of family planning services indicated that they were not widely used. There are a variety of cultural and structural factors that likely contribute to low rates of contraceptive utilization. The marginalization of women is likely the largest contributor, because women who experience disenfranchisement in economics and decision making are not likely to base family planning choices on their own desires (Browner 2000). Economic dependence restricts many women from using contraception methods against their husbands’ will, and in the poor rural village in which I worked; this was exacerbated by the lack of economic opportunities available and the poor economic state of families even with an employed husband. This observation correlates with the findings of Petchesky (2000), who emphasizes the indivisibility of education, economic empowerment, and access to health care.
Women possess great responsibility in rural Uganda performing work in the informal sector of the economy. Like the women in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, a woman's day is "focused on caring for family and preparation of food--tasks that renew themselves each time the sun rises" (Nuttall 2005:191). The tasks that women must complete are seemingly endless: they care for their children, cook meals for the family, tend to livestock, fetch water, chop firewood to be used to prepare food, and care for the home. Childcare is a huge responsibility for these women, often caring for 5-8 children of their own. With high maternal mortality rates, some families care for the children of relatives or friends, increasing the burden of childcare. Aside from the usual childcare responsibilities, mothers are also responsible for taking their children to clinics when they fall ill, which may require a long walk lasting up to two hours and an even longer waiting period. Many scholars note the burden of unending work for women in developing countries (Tushabe 2009; Von Massow 2000)
In addition to these duties, women may also possess other responsibilities outside the home. Some women are formally employed in the community while others assist running a local shop or on the family farm. Although my interview data indicated that most households had no source of income, women typically remained dependent on their husbands for food security and/or economic support. This dependence limited the autonomy of women in the local community, often forced to comply with the wishes of their husbands or face the difficult realities of divorce and single motherhood in an economically depraved region. To read the story of a woman in this difficult situation, click here.
Household Norms and Family Planning
Conducting interviews in the villages gave me insight into the norms for local households, with most interviewees indicating large household size (6-10 people in each small home constructed of smear—mud mixed with cow dung), high pregnancy rates, frequent illness, low educational attainment, inadequate economic resources, and patriarchal household structure. Formal employment in the locality was scarce; most households relied on subsistence farming and earned no formal wage. With many women facing pressure from their husbands to have many children to convey a high status, my village resembles the Mexican village identified by Browner (2000); she notes that “women found themselves under constant pressure to be prolific. This was despite the fact that the Mexican state was supporting a strongly antinatalist agenda, which it sought to implement by means of widely distributed contraceptive services and extensive propaganda” (Browner 2000:777). These similarities continue, as the Ugandan government also encourages family planning services to lower fertility rates.
Yet despite the availability of family planning services, household size and interview responses regarding the use of family planning services indicated that they were not widely used. There are a variety of cultural and structural factors that likely contribute to low rates of contraceptive utilization. The marginalization of women is likely the largest contributor, because women who experience disenfranchisement in economics and decision making are not likely to base family planning choices on their own desires (Browner 2000). Economic dependence restricts many women from using contraception methods against their husbands’ will, and in the poor rural village in which I worked; this was exacerbated by the lack of economic opportunities available and the poor economic state of families even with an employed husband. This observation correlates with the findings of Petchesky (2000), who emphasizes the indivisibility of education, economic empowerment, and access to health care.
The Principle of Indivisibility
When considering how to empower women and girls, it is important to understand the crucial links between education, access to health care, and economic empowerment. Petchesky (2000) describes this interconnectedness as the "principle of indivisibility." Upon applying this concept to my experiences in Uganda, its relevance was immediately clear. For example, efforts to provide women with access to reproductive health care can be somewhat futile if they are forbidden to use these services by their husbands or cannot afford the cost. In rural Uganda, where men possess a great deal of control over their wives, these barriers to seeking care can even be linked, as men typically control the economic resources for the family and dictate the appropriateness of their wives' behaviors (Rutakumwa and Krogman 2007).