The efficacy of traditional transitional justice mechanisms for women in northern Uganda: a case study of Gulu District

Abstract

The study examines the impact of traditional justice mechanisms on women and girls in northern Uganda and it investigates whether these mechanisms serve their purpose in respect to women and girls. After over two decades of civil war between the UPDF and the LRA in Northern Uganda, the Government of Uganda and the locals introduced transitional justice mechanisms to help the community recover from the effects of the war. These included referrals to the International Criminal Court, institutions of suits before the international crimes division of the high court, amnesty, peace talks, and traditional justice mechanisms, among others. Specifically for traditional justice mechanisms, women and girls who in most cases underwent sexual offences are also made to undergo these traditional justice mechanisms, hence critics argue that the process has not been sensitive in dealing with sexual violence in that the mechanisms have the ability to produce secondary victimisation for women. This study therefore analyses the effectiveness of the traditional justice mechanisms to women in Northern Uganda. Qualitative research method has been used to conduct this study. The study involved in-depth interviews of individual respondents, focused group discussions and observation. Some of the key findings of the research was that traditional justice mechanisms still have many benefits which included promotion of reconciliation and peace among the people in the community, easy accessibility, it is cost effective, among others. The research also showed that the respondents prefer both traditional and formal justice systems. The study also suggested solutions to improve traditional justice mechanisms, the African Union Transitional Justice Policy and the Uganda National Transitional Justice Policy.