Breaking Ground: Betty Laker's Journey to Justice in Kitgum District, Uganda

It is a Tuesday afternoon as the sun beats down relentlessly, casting its fiery gaze upon the earth below. In a nearby garden, 47-year-old Betty Laker diligently works, her weathered hands delving into the earth as she uproots cassava tubers. 

Despite the evident delay in her meal preparations, she remains focused, determined to provide nourishment for herself and her family. 

In the tranquil village of Oryang, nestled within the Kitgum District, a remote locale 481 kilometers to the north of Uganda’s bustling capital city, Kampala, she finally begins to find solace. Here, she seeks refuge from the torment inflicted upon her by her late husband’s relatives. 

"They prevented me from cultivating on my husband's land after he passed away. I had no means to feed my four children," she recounts, the anguish of her past hardships evident in her eyes as she reflects on the challenges she faced over the years. 

Amidst the relentless barrage of insults and ongoing abuse that endangered her very existence, Laker finally reached her breaking point and made the difficult decision to relocate to her ancestral home, the place of her birth - Oryang Village.

Little did she know that leaving her husband's home in neighbouring Palabek-Kal Sub-county, situated in Lamwo District, would not free her from oppression, as her own clan imposed similar constraints upon her.

 "I had come to settle on the land of my father being the only surviving child. However, my uncle informed me that I have no entitlement to any portion of the land, as it has already been divided among his younger children," she recounted with a heavy heart.

Like in many parts of Uganda, the prevalence of violence against women and girls, including challenges related to land ownership rights, remains distressingly high.

Today Laker is glad that she received help from the Legal Aid project office in Kitgum, who wrote a letter and summoned her relatives who had illegally settled on her ancestral land. 

“At first, they were very arrogant, but they were later advised to divide the land and I was allocated 2 pieces measuring about 2 acres in total. I constructed in one while the other piece is cultivation,” Lucker explained.

 I’m glad to report that ever since we had meetings, they ceased disturbing me plus my children over this land.

“I’m very grateful to Legal Aid and UN Women for rescuing me. I had lost hope because I didn’t expect to be barred from accessing even our ancestral land from my own family members,” she added.

Laker is among the many women that are being supported through UN Women’s Spotlight initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices in Uganda through a European Union (EU) Funding.