Gender Inequality

At COHERINET we believe that Gender equality is essential because it upholds human rights and fairness, economic growth and poverty reduction, health and education especially among the vulnerable people at the community grassroots levels in Uganda.

In Uganda, about 56% of married women aged 15 to 49 report are experiencing physical or sexual spousal violence which is enforcing unequal control over household resources, roughly 34% of young women are married before the age of 18, secondary school

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  enrollment remains lower for females (39%) than males (49%) being majorly driven by school-based harassment and domestic expectations, women are doing 5.2 hours of unpaid domestic work daily compared to 1.6 hours for men causing time poverty that restricts their farm output and women earn roughly 25% to 32% less than men on average and facing a clear glass ceiling in higher-level jobs among other issues.
  
  Therefore, because Gender inequality is directly impacting reproductive healthcare through domestic power dynamics and restricted autonomy, disparities in education and literacy, economic marginalization, social stigma and institutional bias, at COHERINET we are doing what we can do address some of the challenges. And because recognizing and achieving meaningful and lasting change in reproductive health care requires addressing the gender norms and power dynamics that influence women’s ability to make decisions about their own health and wellbeing, we continue to empower women and girls with knowledge about their reproductive rights and connecting them to essential SRHR services as we are also recognizing the importance of engaging men as partners in advancing gender equity and reproductive justice.
  
  Through our community-based works, we hold strategic targeted men sessions that include framing gender equality as a universal benefit, calling in rather than calling out constructive dialogues and with non-judgmental messaging to help in inviting reflections rather than triggering defensiveness, sessions on highlighting personal and shared gains among others. The reflective dialogues are gradually creating opportunities for men to reflect on how their attitudes, decisions, and actions can either support or limit women’s access to reproductive healthcare, bodily autonomy and choices.
  
  COHERINET promotes men as allies, partners, family members, community leaders, and professionals who can contribute positively to informed reproductive health decisions. We continue to believe that continuous systematic and strategic interventions that are challenging harmful gender norms, promoting positive masculinity and gender equity, encouraging men to become champions for women’s and girls’ SRHR will help in building communities where women and girls have greater agency, support, and freedom to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and access the services they need.