Teachers, Editors Face Arrest Over Sharing Pictures Of Breastfeeding Students

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Uganda news February 7, 2022

The police cyber unit and the anti-human trafficking team at the Ministry of Internal Affairs are hunting for teachers who allegedly photographed breastfeeding girls in classrooms.

These also went as far as posting pictures on social media.

It has been almost a month since schools were reopened on January 10th after being closed for almost two years. Since the reopening, pictures of returned pregnant or breastfeeding students have made rounds on social media.

Although they have digitally manipulated some of these pictures (‘photoshopped’), some are to be genuine. Apparently, it’s teachers that take these pictures and then circulate them on social media.

Agnes Igoye, the deputy coordinator anti-human trafficking department in the ministry of internal affairs, says they have come to collaborate with the police.

This is after noticing that there is an increase in attacks on girls who have been courageous enough to return to school even after giving birth.

‘’If you are a teacher, it is even worse. If you receive the picture and also forward, there is a trail. We request all investigating officers to trace the sources of these pictures. Parents, please report to the police when you see your child’s picture online. It is an attack on the girl child. We are not seeing males’ pictures who are responsible for making the girls pregnant being shared,’’ says Igoye.

She says that they will not spare even editors and producers of mass media who republish these pictures.

According to statistics, 354,736 girls got pregnant in 2020, the first year of Uganda’s Covid-19 lockdown. By the end of June 2021, they had defiled and impregnated an additional 196,499 girls.

The government through the ministry of Education and Sports directed schools to allow all pregnant and breastfeeding girls to return to school.

Apparently, they took these pictures shared on social media of pregnant or breastfeeding girls from upcountry schools.

Igoye explains that this act torments the girls and they could end up abandoning school forever.

With the hope of putting a stop to the act, Igoye says they have tasked police to work with the anti-human trafficking department. They will ensure the arrest of the people circulating these photos.

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