Rape is commonplace in northern Uganda, and far too often the victims are children. Charles is a police constable in northern Uganda. Charles recently completed War Child’s Justice training to improve his understanding of sexual and gender-based violence. His community has only one under-funded rural police outpost, so this was a great opportunity. 

He didn’t expect that shortly after the training, his little sister would be raped.

You can imagine his horror at hearing the news. It is hard to contemplate the pain she must have felt as she told him the details. But with his new skills, at least Charles knew what to do. He had her taken to the hospital for HIV testing, a medical examination and a rape kit.  He then ensured that the perpetrator was tracked down and brought to justice.

Charles feared his little sister’s childhood was stolen from her the day she was raped. But now that her perpetrator is behind bars, she has the opportunity carry on with her life and become a productive, valuable member of her community.

Charles has made a personal commitment to ensure that parents and community leaders have the information they need to help prevent sexual violence. He is already seeing the results of his efforts.

Community members attending a rights awareness meeting

“Members of the community have shown an increasing commitment to the prevention of sexual violence. I see it in the number of cases reported to me. Before my community interventions, the number of child abuse cases was very worrying and only one or two a month were actually reported.”

Childhood does have the power to break the cycle of violence, if you choose to protect it