The LC3 Chairman of Koro sub-county,Mr. Uhuru Santo, has appealed to law makers to re- adjust defilement law to equally cover women who engage in sexual affairs with young boys.

Uhuru was responding to the status of child abuse in Koro Sub County during an interview with our reporter from his office on Wednesday, where he expressed fear that current law does not protect young boys from sexual exploitation by women.

He noted that early this week, a woman identified as Aciro Alice (not real names) of Koro Abili was arrested after she was discovered hiding a 16 year old boy in her house for a couple of days as her sexual partner.

Meanwhile in December 2011, Police in Gulu arrested a 27-year- old woman for alleged defilement.

A woman from Rwot Omiya village, Tegot Parish in Omoro County, was accused of wooing a 14-year-old boy into a sexual encounter. She had allegedly been having sex with the underage boy on many occasions.

The woman is currently being held on remand at Gulu Central prison with pending
charges and production before Gulu High Court.

Fred Banumba, the Officer in charge of Opit Police post, told Acholi Times that, the woman’s actions amount to defilement of a minor.

She will also be subjected to an HIV test to ascertain if she has infected the 14 year old boy, says Banumba.

Police say the suspect went into hiding for two months before she was picked-up.

Early last year, a 14 year-old-boy committed suicide after his parents turned down his proposal to marry a 47 year old woman.

However, there seems to be confusion among parliamentarians about what the law says regarding defilement of children.

Speaking about the perceived need for the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, MP David Bahati, is quoted in the Independent as saying the following in trying to justify the necessity of passing the bill into law, “In the Defilement Act 2009, the law says that if someone (man) defiles a minor (girl child), the maximum punishment is death, but if a woman defiles a boy, the law is silent about it.” 

According to a Penal Code Amendment law passed by Uganda’s parliament in 2007, an HIV-positive person who willfully infects a minor through sexual intercourse will face the death penalty.

According to the law, an individual who is aware of their HIV-positive status and has sex with a child under the age of 14, with or without their consent, is guilty of “aggravated defilement” and, on conviction in the High Court, “liable to suffer death”.

The crime of defilement is defined as sex with a person under the age of 14. 

Parliament sought to amend the penal code at the time, which had been criticised for being too lenient with HIV-positive people who rape children. Capital punishment has been the penalty for anyone found guilty of rape.