Professor Sylvia Tamale | |
---|---|
Born | Sylvia Tamale 1962 (age 61–62) Uganda |
Nationality | Ugandan |
Alma mater | Makerere University (Bachelor of Laws) Law Development Centre (Diploma in Legal Practice) Harvard University (Master of Laws) University of Minnesota (Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology) |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer, academic, and activist |
Years active | 1987 – present |
Sylvia Rosila Tamale is a Ugandan academic, and human rights activist in Uganda. She was the first woman dean in the law faculty at Makerere University, Uganda. [1] [2]
Tamale received her Bachelor of Laws with honors from Makerere University, her Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, and her Doctor of Philosophy in sociology and feminist studies from the University of Minnesota in 1997. Tamale received her Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center, Kampala, in 1990, graduating at the top of her class. [1] She is set to retire this year (2022). [3]
Tamale has been a visiting professor at the African Gender Institute of the University of Cape Town [4] and a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin. [5] In 2003 she was condemned by Ugandan conservatives for proposing that gay men and lesbians be included in the definition of "minority". [6] Tamale was the dean of the Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, from 2004 to 2008. [1] [7]
From 1993 until 1997, she received a Fulbright-MacArthur Scholarship to pursue her studies at Harvard. [1] In 2003, she won the University of Minnesota Award for International Distinguished Leadership for her work at the university. [2] [8] In 2004, she was awarded the Akina Mama wa Afrika Award by Akina Mama wa Afrika, an international, Pan-African, non-governmental development organisation for African women based in the United Kingdom with its African headquarters in Kampala, Uganda. [9] In 2004, she was recognized by several women's organisations in Uganda, for her for human rights activism. [10]
On 28 October 2016, she became the first female lecturer to give a professorial inaugural lecture at Makerere University. Her lecture was entitled Nudity, Protests and the Law, inspired, in part, by the earlier-in-the-year nude protest of Stella Nyanzi at the university. [11] In her speech, Tamale called for a revision of the Ugandan laws that discriminate against women. [12]
In March 2018, Makerere University selected Dr Tamale to chair a select five member committee to investigate the causes and increasing cases of "sexual harassment" at the public institution of higher learning. The report of the committee is expected in May 2018. [13] As Dean of Faculty at Makerere University, she started the Sexual Harassment Policy, which prohibits sexual harassment on and off campus among anyone associated with the university. [14]
On May 18, 2018, Tamale presented the first report on sexual harassment that the select committee had investigated. She reported it to students, staff, public, and private partners of Makerere University. [15] The report was conducted by a qualitative research method, consisting of 234 interviews, with 59% of the interviewees being women. She noted the importance of the media within her speech as it was instrumental in "creating a spotlight on the evils of sexual harassment hence increasing the awareness on the issue." [15] Makerere University now reaffirms its zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment and is committed to creating an environment that respects all its member rights.
She has spoken out in support of the traditional practice of labia stretching, arguing that any comparison to female genital mutilation is invalid. [16]
Tamale's research includes work on gender and sexuality, women in politics, and feminist jurisprudence, third world women and the law, all while combining academia and activism. [17] [18] To her, feminism is "a belief/ideology in gender equity and doing something about it and overall about people's dignity and humanity." [19] She encourages other feminists to actively participate in all levels of public offices and use education as a weapon to destroy various patriarchal structures of power within law, culture, language and media. [19] She believes in the inclusivity of feminism by stating, "patriarchy hurts men too," and "we must recognize that not all women are the same. Not all women experience oppression the same way." [20]
She also includes religion within her inclusivity sentiments by stating, "you can be religious and feminist. There is a whole body of literature on interpreting the Bible to bring about gender equity." [20]
In 2003, Tamale was named the "Worst Woman of the Year" by a conservative bloc in Uganda. She was vilified for weeks within one of Kampala's daily newspapers, New Vision, as responsible for everything from the moral degeneration of the nation to the reason Ugandan teenagers were going to go to hell. She was attacked for suggesting that the term "minorities" should cover lesbian and gay citizens of Uganda in the Equal Opportunities Commission. [21]
She is a Working Group Member in the African Feminist Forum. The AFF brings African feminist activists to discuss strategy, refine approaches, and develop stronger networks to advance women's rights in Africa. [22] She is an Advisory Board Member for the Open Society Foundations, an organization active in more than 120 countries that provides grants to individuals and groups toward building inclusive and vibrant democracies. [23]
Tamale was interviewed by Dr. Purna Sen, Director of Policy at UN Women, for part of a research project called Above the Parapet. For this project, high-profile women who have had an impact on public life were interviewed in order to capture their views and experiences. The Sylvia Tamale interview was uploaded to YouTube on August 13, 2015, by London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Tamale talks about using Makerere University as a platform to get her message out there and her views on politics and the law, among many other topics. Speaking about her work, Tamale says, "I'm really not doing it for my colleagues. I'm doing it for the betterment of our society." Tamale also speaks about being attacked for being vocal about taboo subjects such as abortion. She also speaks about being named the Worst Woman of the Year. "The reason why I was the worst woman that year was...because of my speaking out...always talking about issues that was seen as against African tradition...against religion...I even made a button that says 'Worst Woman 2003' and I wear it with a lot of pride," Tamale said. Tamale also offered advice to any women aspiring to be in a position of power. "The world will try as much as possible to define who you are. Don't let the world define who you are. Define who you are yourself. Never ever shrink to fit the expectations of others. That pressure will always be there," Tamale said, "You cannot get any rewards without working for it. Nothing good comes easy." [24]
She is married to Joe Oloka-Onyango a professor of law at Makerere University. [25]
Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom. They oppose legal or social efforts to control sexual activities between consenting adults, whether they are initiated by the government, other feminists, opponents of feminism, or any other institution. They embrace sexual minority groups, endorsing the value of coalition-building with marginalized groups. Sex-positive feminism is connected with the sex-positive movement. Sex-positive feminism brings together anti-censorship activists, LGBT activists, feminist scholars, producers of pornography and erotica, among others. Sex-positive feminists believe that prostitution can be a positive experience if workers are treated with respect, and agree that sex work should not be criminalized.
Catharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist legal scholar, activist, and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she has been tenured since 1990, and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. From 2008 to 2012, she was the special gender adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Makerere University is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school offering programmes for about 36,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. The main administrative block was gutted by fire in September 2020 and the cause of the fire is yet to be established.
Joe Oloka-Onyango is a Ugandan lawyer and academic. He is a Professor of Law at Makerere University School of Law where he has also formerly been Dean and Director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC). He is married to Prof Sylvia Tamale, also a lawyer, academic and activist. They have two sons; Kwame Sobukwe Ayepa and Samora Okech Sanga.
Feminist sexology is an offshoot of traditional studies of sexology that focuses on the intersectionality of sex and gender in relation to the sexual lives of women. Sexology has a basis in psychoanalysis, specifically Freudian theory, which played a big role in early sexology. This reactionary field of feminist sexology seeks to be inclusive of experiences of sexuality and break down the problematic ideas that have been expressed by sexology in the past. Feminist sexology shares many principles with the overarching field of sexology; in particular, it does not try to prescribe a certain path or "normality" for women's sexuality, but only observe and note the different and varied ways in which women express their sexuality. It is a young field, but one that is growing rapidly.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Uganda face severe legal challenges, active discrimination, state persecution and stigmatisation not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female forms of homosexual activity are illegal in Uganda. Originally criminalised by British colonial laws introduced when Uganda became a British protectorate, these were retained after the country gained its independence.
The Law Development Centre (LDC) is an educational institution in Uganda for higher learning that offers various legal courses ranging from one month to one year.
Call Me Kuchu is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright. The film explores the struggles of the LGBT community in Uganda, focusing in part on the 2011 murder of LGBT activist David Kato.
The African Gender Institute (AGI) is a feminist research and teaching group that studies issues related to gender in Africa. It has become a department at the University of Cape Town (UCT), administered within the School of African and Gender Studies, Social Anthropology and Linguistics. The AGI has its own staff and has a unique degree of independence from UCT.
Esther Damalie Nagitta-Musoke is a Ugandan academic, and served as the dean and acting principal of the school of law at Makerere University, in Uganda, for close to five years, from 2012 until 2017. She was preceded by Professor Ben Twinomugisha and succeeded by Dr. Christopher Mbaziira. She is also an Advocate of the Courts of Judicature in Uganda and partner in the Law Chambers of Mubiru-Musoke, Musisi & Co. Advocates.
Jessica Horn is a Ugandan feminist activist, writer, poet, and technical advisor on women's rights Her work focuses on women's rights, bodily autonomy and freedom from violence, and African feminist movement building. She was named as an African woman changemaker by ARISE Magazine and as one of Applause Africa's "40 African Changemakers under 40". She joined the African Women's Development Fund as director of programmes in October 2015.
Stella Nyanzi is a Ugandan human rights advocate, poet, medical anthropologist, feminist, queer rights advocate, and scholar of sexuality, family planning, and public health. She was arrested in 2017 for insulting the Ugandan president. In January 2022, she was accepted to live in Germany on a writers-in-exile programme run by PEN Germany, with her three children.
Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza is a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge, who has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda, since 2015.
Anna Ebaju Adeke is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. Currently she serves as the Member of Parliament representing Women in Soroti District in the 11th Parliament (2021–2026). She previously served as the parliamentary representative of the National Female Youth Constituency in the 10th parliament (2016–2021). She serves as the Deputy President for Forum for Democratic Change in Eastern Region.
Dr. Zahara Nampewo, is a female Ugandan lawyer, human rights activist, and academic. She is the executive director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at Makerere University School of Law, in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.
Sarah Ssali, is a Ugandan social scientist, researcher, academic and academic administrator, who is an associate professor and dean of the School of Gender Studies at Makerere University, Uganda's oldest and largest public university.
Cleopatra Kambugu Kentaro is a Ugandan transgender woman and human rights activist, advocating for equality and social justice with particular focus on sex workers and gender non-conforming communities. Kentaro is recognised for her advocacy and was featured in the 2016 award-winning feature-length documentary The Pearl of Africa.
Sa'diyya Shaikh is a South African scholar of Islam and feminist theory. She is a professor of religion at the University of Cape Town. Shaikh studies Sufism in relation to feminism and feminist theory. Shaikh is known for work on gender in Islam and 'Ibn Arabi.
Val Kalende is an LGBT activist from Uganda. After coming out as a lesbian in 2003, she became involved in Ugandan LGBT activism. In 2018, she stated she was no longer a lesbian, having been "transformed by God's love".
Caroline Adoch is a Ugandan lawyer and human rights advocate. She is the first woman to hold a Doctorate of Law (LL.D) degree from Makerere University which was awarded to her on the 23rd May 2022.
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