Minister Amelia Kyambadde
Many girls and women have stories of assault or near assault that they never share because they are afraid of being judged the wrong way. So you can imagine the courage it took for Ms Amelia Kyambadde, the Minister of Trade Industry and Co-operatives to share her story with hundreds of people of people gathered for the launch of Girls for Girls initiative at Mary Reparatrix Secondary School in Entebbe.
The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Mawokota North reportedly revealed that her stepmother encouraged her uncle to rape her when she was still in secondary school.
“A brother to my stepmother wanted to rape me when I was coming from the bathroom,” Ms Kyambadde said.
She reportedly said that she had just returned home for the holidays and went to take a shower when she overheard her stepmother telling her brother to “try and do it”.
“I never suspected that it was about me, until a few minutes later as I returned from the bathroom and my uncle forcefully got hold of me and pulled down my towel,” Ms Kyambadde narrated.
DO NOT MISS: Dancers splash minister Kyambadde with Paraffin
She says that her alarm fell on deaf ears as her stepmother never came to stop her uncle from raping her.
“It took me several minutes trying to fight off the rapist until I managed to kick the sensitive part of his body that made him scream. That is when my stepmother came out and even then, she just said I was overreacting,” Kyambadde revealed.
Hurt and humiliated, Kyambadde said that she at one time attempted to commit suicide even though she grew up in a well-to-do family. According to the New Vision, Kyambadde got married at an early age, as an option to run away from the mistreatment at home. She added that she has been sexually harraseed by men since she works in a public office.
Kyambadde’s revelations come in the wake of the #MeToo movement that has seen many famous and powerful women including Lupita Nyongo’ speak out against men who have sexually harassed or assaulted them. Last week famed UK actor was found guilty of sexual assault after over 60 women accused him of sexually assaulting them.
ALSO READ: How Bill Cosby fell from US cultural icon and superstar to convicted sex offender
