Transforming Stigma Through Organizational Praxes: The Role of the Ugandan-Based NGOs in Supporting Men Affected by Sexual Violence in Conflicts

Abstract

In Uganda, refugee populations and Acholi communities have been highly affected by conflict-related sexual violence. However, the stigma around ‘male rape’ and the institutionalized homophobia preclude men from receiving health care services and legal justice. In this thesis, I refer to prominent African feminist researchers Sylvia Tamale, Danai Mupotsa, Zethu Matebeni, Sokari Ekine, Stella Nyanzi, and Keguro Macharia to examine the ontological and epistemic limitations to conceptualize stigma around sexual violence against men. Hence, I address how colonial, patriarchal, and neoliberal systems continue to sustain the multilayered stigma in the Ugandan context.

In Uganda, there are a handful of organizations that tackle conflict-related sexual violence against men. A Ugandan-based Refugee Law Project is one of the leading human rights organizations that provides a wide range of support for men affected by conflict-related sexual violence. Even though the organization has gained a prominent position globally in providing knowledge of sexual violence against men, the positionality of the NGO workers has remained invisible regarding their educational training and needed skills. Thus, I collected the data for this thesis through semi-structured interviews with the staff members of the Refugee Law Project and with a smaller Ugandan-based NGO to analyze their methods of responding to sexual violence against men.

Using African queer theory, I investigate how NGOs transform and resist the multilayered stigma through their everyday working praxes. By situating African queer into this discussion, I explore how NGOs contribute to promoting ‘peace work’ in the Ugandan context. The organization-centric approach amplifies the need to foster contextuality in designing multi-sectoral humanitarian responses to sexual violence against men. Further, this thesis provides critical perspectives for the actors in the ‘Global North’ to rethink methods they use to support refugee populations from the addressed regions of this thesis.