A high number of female Members of Parliament, female university top performers, and women running major corporate enterprises are often cited as proof of women’s empowerment.
However, these successes are largely confined to urban centers. In rural areas, women continue to endure unthinkable suffering, oppression, and neglect. Rural women are routinely deprived of basic necessities, raised without an education, left unaware of their fundamental rights, subjected to domestic violence, and forced to bear the heavy consequences of men’s actions.
When asked simple questions like, “How many children do you have?”, many rural women react with shy, awkward smiles. They frequently reveal having six, seven, or even more children. When asked about family planning, many admit they do not practice it because their husbands refuse. One woman frankly remarked, “My husband doesn’t care about the consequences of sex; he just wants it.”
Another young woman expressed dread at the thought of her husband returning from his job in Kampala: “He only comes home to get me pregnant, then leaves without taking any responsibility for me or our children.”
Under such oppressive conditions, genuine emancipation remains out of reach.
The irresponsible sexual behavior of many men stands as the single greatest barrier to rural women’s advancement.
Marion Birungi, a teacher at a technical school, observes that over 70% of men who work in urban areas while leaving their wives in rural villages engage in extramarital affairs.
Most rural wives remain unaware of these secret relationships, and those who do know lack the power or social standing to challenge their husbands.
It is common for men to abandon their families for younger women, leaving their original wives with multiple children to raise alone.
Furthermore, urban-employed men often feel threatened by wives who become economically independent and self-sufficient, as financial stability undermines traditional male dominance.
Lacking both literacy and financial independence, these women are left emotionally and economically helpless. They struggle to manage household challenges, guide their children’s behavior, or confront their partners’ actions. When irresponsible men abandon domestic duties, the burden falls entirely on the mother, leaving children vulnerable and perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
The Impact of Lack of Skills and Education
* Impared Personal Growth: Education and literacy are essential for financial, emotional, and social maturity. Without them, personal development is severely limited.
* Resignation to Oppression: Low literacy fosters poor self-esteem, leading many women to accept subjugation as an unchangeable reality.
* Low Economic Value: Without practical or vocational skills, women cannot command fair value for their hard labor, no matter how hard they work.
* Political Exploitation: Unscrupulous politicians frequently take advantage of uneducated women with empty promises and “sweet nothings.”
* Lack of Positive Role Models: News reports occasionally highlight cases of female Members of Parliament falling victim to sexual exploitation by male colleagues. When public leaders face such vulnerability, it leaves ordinary women with few empowering role models.
* Inability to Access Services: Uneducated women remain unaware of government resources designed for their benefit, including basic healthcare, agricultural support, and micro-loan schemes.
Key Realities to Consider
* Academic Disparity: Among the poorest results in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), rural girls consistently rank lowest.
* Limited Futures: When asked about plans after Primary Seven, the common response is that most girls end up married or pregnant within months.
* Vulnerability in Informal Work: Girls who turn to petty trading in local centers frequently become targets of exploitation by village men.
* Poor School Infrastructure: In many rural Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools, not a single student achieves Division I or Division II, with most scoring above 20 aggregates.
* Age and Social Stigma: Primary 7 leavers in rural areas are often around 16 years old. Returning to complete school alongside significantly younger urban peers causes immense social embarrassment, driving many out of the education system entirely.
Rev. Fr. Lazar Arasu SDB
Priest and School Administrator
arasuafrica@gmail.com
The post FR LAZAR ARASU: Why National Progress is Failing the Rural Woman appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.