DIGITAL

Let’s talk about pain – or Get Lippy about Nazziwa Annette!

Nazziwa Annet, with her baby Nakasumba Jackline, 6 months. Photo credits Jenny Matthews/ActionAid.

If you think that this Get Lippy blogger engagement by ActionAid UK is getting lighter, well, you are wrong:( Trust me, it is not getting easier for me either. So, let’s meet Nazziwa Annette. Now, according to ActionAid UK:

The police did not arrest Ssempiija for three months after the attack during which time he continued to threaten Nazziwa and her family. He was only taken into custody earlier this month after development agency ActionAid gave the local police force money to pay for the petrol to go to the area and arrest him. ActionAid also supported Nazziwa in bringing the case against her husband. Activists say that the police have no budget to tackle domestic violence cases, which are widespread in Uganda. According to a 2006 government survey 68 per cent of Ugandan women had suffered physical violence within the home within the previous twelve months. ActionAid are pushing the Resident State Attorney to lodge an appeal by 28th February. The police did not arrest Ssempiija for three months after the attack during which time he continued to threaten Nazziwa and her family. He was only taken into custody earlier this month after development agency ActionAid gave the local police force money to pay for the petrol to go to the area and arrest him. ActionAid also supported Nazziwa in bringing the case against her husband. Activists say that the police have no budget to tackle domestic violence cases, which are widespread in Uganda. According to a 2006 government survey 68 per cent of Ugandan women had suffered physical violence within the home within the previous twelve months. ActionAid are pushing the Resident State Attorney to lodge an appeal by 28th February.

These are the facts. ActionAid is doing great job, and Nazziwa looks really calm and determined to change her life for better. I am really impressed. I am equally worried about the future of her family. Her father is right in saying it out loud: the husband might be back. I look at Nazziwa’s face and I feel pain. What do you know about pain? Pain combined with the lack of security and fear for your on life and the life of your closest. I used to feel that before, and honestly, I healed and I have forgotten. At the end of January, back in Cairo airport, I have felt aftertones of that feeling, which gave me shivers, occasionally made me cry. Yet, all this is nothing compared to the cruel act of attacking another person and leaving them with a major disability. With this, and the visible memory of what has never been deserved. Because I do not believe that aggression is justified, ever. There is no excuse for hurting the other person, and most definitely no justice in blaming the victim. Funnily enough yesterday I head this on the bus in Oxford:

 

My partner is right, I should have told the bus driver what I think. And he is right stating that people like him AND I – people who feel it’s ok to make similar statements, and people like me who think it’s not polite to interrupt others – contribute to the social setup, which gives so much scope for domestic violence and abuse. Regardless of the region you live in. What also shocks me in Nazziwa’s story is the pain of having to live in the country where police “cannot afford enforcing the low and protect the community”. Something is very wrong with this statement, and something has to be done to change it. Well, I cannot change it, but I am glad some people do;) Way to go ActionAid UK!

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