Why Africa’s #MeToo is more a murmur than an outcry
#MeToo movement taking off slower in Africa due to fear of backlash, say women’s rights campaigners
Nairobi/Yaounde — Ugandan parliamentarian Sylvia Rwabwogo knows only too well the anguish, fear and paranoia of being stalked incessantly. For almost a year, her stalker phoned her and sent hundreds of text messages declaring his undying love — telling her she could never belong to anyone else. A knock on the door or unknown phone call would make her panic he was coming for her. “I told him to stop calling and I blocked his number but he would just call and text from another number. For months, I was confined to my home. I was scared to go to work or even the supermarket,” Rwabwogo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “It took eight months before I reported the harassment to the police as I was worried I would not be taken seriously and the media would blow up the issue and sensationalise it.” Rwabwogo was right — and the backlash was severe. Not only was she ridiculed by fellow politicians, local media and the public for “making a big issue out of nothing”, she was accused of ruini...
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