Uganda faces rising challenges in combating gender-based violence

Safeguarding women against abuse, especially violence or the threat of violence remains a challenge. In Uganda, the murder of a popular female athlete at the hands of her boyfriend was a grave reminder that women are still not safe.

33-year-old Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei was murdered in September 2024 in Kenya by her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, who set her on fire.  She suffered burns to more than 75 % of her body in the attack and died four days later.

Neighbours reported hearing voices before seeing Ndiema pour gasoline over Cheptegei as she returned from church with her two daughters.  He, too, was seriously injured in the attack and succumbed in the hospital’s intensive care unit to complications from the burns.

Cheptegei had recently returned to Kenya following the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she represented Uganda in the women’s 42 kilometres marathon and finished 44th. In 2022, she participated in the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, winning gold in the uphill and downhill races.

Cheptegei had a home in Kenya’s western Trans-Nzoia County. Many Ugandan athletes, especially long-distance athletes stay in Kenya to train and learn from the many success stories in world athletics. The country also has better sports facilities.

Instigators must face the law

Activists believe that instigators of domestic violence must face the law. The death of Ndiema is perhaps viewed as an easy way out, after his gross attack on Cheptegei. 

“I don’t wish bad things on anyone, but of course, I would have loved for him to face the law as an example for others so that these attacks on women can stop,” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary-general of the Uganda Olympic Committee, said.

Other Ugandan officials have condemned the attack, demanding justice for Cheptegei. First Lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as Uganda’s education and sports minister, described the attack as “deeply disturbing.”

Don Rukare, chairman of the National Council of Sports of Uganda, said in a statement on the platform X that the attack was “a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”

Globally, a woman is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes on average, according to a 2023 UN Women study.

Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in a worrying pattern of gender-based violence in recent years. Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted several marches this year.

95 % of Ugandan women had experienced violence

Ugandan researcher, Caroline Nakayiza, believes that “gender-based violence ranks as a top rights issue that Ugandans want the government and society to address.” The National Survey on Violence in Uganda reported that 95 % of Ugandan women had experienced physical or sexual violence (or both). Existing data from past years supports these findings. In 2021, gender-based violence accounted for at least 168 deaths. 

Many women who face violence or are under the threat of violence fear to speak out. UN Women reported that globally, fewer than one in 10 women who seek assistance after experiencing violence go to the police, often preferring to turn to family members or remain silent.

Actors must do more to address gender-based violence, especially against women and girls. Incidences like the murder of Cheptegei are only a stack highlight to the stories of many women and girls who are seconds away from falling victim to violence.

Sheillah Abaho is a Uganda writer based in Kampala. 
sheilaabaho2@gmail.com