Ugandans publish the name of their rapists on Twitter

“The system remains sexist and continues to harass survivors of sexual violence. Before arriving in front of a judge, it is up to the police how a case is presented and, so far, they have not been able to address them from a non-sexist perspective. ” This is how Rosebell Kagumire, a well-known Ugandan feminist journalist and activist, explains the penultimate digital campaign for women's rights in her country, #FreeSheena. The feminist movement in this East African country has gained prominence in recent years because it is exploiting digital tools in an environment where freedom of expression is not guaranteed. But, also, because it is the exhaust valve of the claim of a radical system change.

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The scandal knocked on the doors of Ugandan society from Twitter while the year 2020 stretched. In fact, it had been set before 2019 expired. Sheena Ahumuza Bagaine, a young feminist activist, exchanged messages with some friends about the weekend when a reference to an abuse situation appeared by an acquaintance of several of them. Someone, in that digital conversation, asked for the identity of the subject to prevent other women from suffering their abuses. Sheena did not hesitate and gave the individual's name. It was December 30, 2019. From there a discussion broke out, between users and users: some argued that such accusations must be filed with the authorities and others considered that abusers should be publicly exposed; the subject's acquaintances defended his honor and other women claimed to have been harassed.

Meanwhile, the user who had launched the complaint began receiving messages from women. Some reinforced the individual's accusation; others expanded the list of aggressors by sharing their experiences of abuse with it. The conversation generated a current of discussions, some heated, but also a lot of solidarity, sensitivity and debate about the role of social networks in denouncing sexual violence.

Sheena decided that she should make those names public and on January 2 she launched the final bet: a thread in which she shared the screenshots of the messages that other women had sent her explaining their experiences, exposing her alleged aggressors with names and surnames . "Some may be heartbreaking, but a friend of yours can be an abuser," he warned.

Lizard goes by the name Muneza. Come and fight me I'm ready https://t.co/sKpKe9PWHm

A dozen men appeared in these messages. And the storm broke out, retweets, disputes and discussions, including threats, but also other messages of similar content and many encouraging the tweeter and conveying their support. Again, the networks in Uganda were shaken by a scandal that exposes the sexual violence that women suffer regularly.

One of the aforementioned warned Sheena Ahumuza Bagaine through his lawyers that he would file a legal complaint if he did not withdraw the tweets, apologize and pay 2,000 million Ugandan shillings (slightly less than 500,000 euros) in compensation for damages caused. The activist posted a discreet "Let's go to war" on Twitter.

On February 20, the community of Ugandan feminist digital activists was celebrating: they were celebrating the acquittal that had returned Stella Nyanzi's freedom, a symbol for this group. The Ugandan academic and writer was arrested in November 2018, following an accusation of cyberbullying against President Yoweri Museveni, for a poem published on Facebook in which she wished she had never been born. Nyanzi was sentenced to one and a half years in jail in August 2019. But after almost 15 months of pretrial detention, another court overturned the sentence and ordered his release.

The conversation generated a stream of discussions, some heated, but also a lot of solidarity, sensitivity and debate about the role of social networks in reporting sexual violence

The activists did not have enough time to celebrate because on the same day the news of the arrest of Sheena Ahumuza Bagaine spread, curiously, to answer the same charges of cyberbullying in their tweets. The community of activists immediately deployed the #FreeSheena campaign: a public complaint and a call for attention to the authorities.

The networks transmitted the indignation of activists and users not necessarily compromised. The police had not clarified the cases of abuse, assault, harassment and sexual violence that had been made public in the messages of the month of January of social networks, but acted strongly against the author of the messages.

The activity was intense and, again, aroused in the country the debate about inequality and women's insecurity. The groups that defend their rights do not tire of denouncing the growing climate of gender-based violence and, above all, the consequences for the victims and for society, because a dangerous sense of impunity is being transmitted. One of the most repeated warnings during the support campaign was that Sheena's arrest sent the victims the message of not reporting and following in silence.

So here we are. This thread is exposing rapists and rape apologists! Feel free to add yours in case I missed out some. I will be sharing stories and names according to the DMs I received. Some are heartbreaking but a friend can be another woman's abuser. I hope you're shaking.

The campaign, in any case, was as short as it was intense. The day after his arrest, Sheena Ahumuza Bagaine was released on bail. In the wake of that digital action was again a sample of the resistance of the Ugandan feminist community and the pending social debate.

The feminist activist Twasiima Patricia Bigirwa is also categorical: “It is clear that the system perpetuates abuses, in Uganda it has been institutionalized. The system that should protect the victims, in fact, inflicts more damage. If you suffer abuse, if you have been raped, if you have been assaulted and you have addressed the system that has to protect you, if you have gone to Justice or the Police to protect you, you realize that it ends in nothing, because it is a oppressor system We have to understand that the problem has to do with a deep structure of inequality that includes our police, our officials, our laws and our decision structures. ”

Bigirwa also recalls that there are many cases in which the system even "protects the aggressors" and highlights the news in which members of some institutions are implicated in cases of violence or "police officers who write articles in newspapers that rape is justified. " "We have legislators who justify violence against women and continue to make laws," he laments before sentencing: "The system is going on a path that shows that victims cannot even access Justice."

This context is what explains for Bigirwa, but also for Rosebell Kagumire, that the allegations are made in social networks and not before the Police or the judges. “Police are used,” warns Kagumire, “to stop the women who speak. This is how the same system is used that does not protect women and does not investigate cases of sexual violence. ” And he adds that the existing corruption "implies that anyone with money can make the police not listen to the survivors and increase the stigma." Precisely because the signs of bravery do not mean that this social brand has been reduced, in which Twassiima Patricia Bigirwa insists: “Women earn nothing by reporting a violation. There is talk of discredit campaigns, but they are always going to lose out. ” And the two activists remember the case of Samantha Mwesigye, a Justice Ministry official who, after denouncing a superior, lost her job.

Arresting a woman that was brave enough to speak out on behalf of rape victims might intimidate many victims but it will not silence us! We will continue reporting your sons that you've raised to be so entitled to women's bodies! We will not stop! #FreeSheena

In any case, for Kagumire, the example of #FreeSheena and other previous campaigns, as well as the use of social networks in feminist demands, it is demonstrated to young Ugandans that they can break the barriers of silence and denounce their experiences. “Digital tools are a key instrument to show that young women are not alone, although in that case Uganda is no exception,” says Kagumire. She considers that these two recent episodes, the release of Stella Nyanzi and the solidarity campaign with Sheena Ahumuza Bagaine, are “battle victories,” but that “until women stop being arrested in these situations and do not have to fear for their lives cannot be considered a total victory. ”

For its part, Twassiima Patricia Bigirwa agrees that they cannot be considered total victories, "because neither Stella nor Sheena should have been arrested." For her, "what these actions show is not that the fight has been won, but that Ugandan women reject the situation and will continue fighting."

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