which is the creature of the legislature. It does not cover “any other law in force” that has come
into existence by a of other means outside the realm of the legislature and certainly it does not
cover a mere rule of practice that courts may wish to observe. To interpret the exception
differently would bring into the picture all kinds of possibilities. For example, that even
unwritten customary law, etc. may, legally, furnish an exception to the general rule in Section
132 of the Evidence Act. Court greatly doubts whether that was the intention of the legislature.
From that standpoint alone, Court is of the opinion that the said rule is not legally justifiable, for
it cannot stand as a valid exception to the general rule in section 132 of the Evidence Act,
Secondly, and much more importantly, Court thinks that the above rule discriminates against
women who are by far, the most frequent victims of sexual offences and is, therefore,
inconsistent with Uganda’s international obligations under various conventions and the
Constitution.
The Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus defines the word “discrimination” as follows,
“The singling out of a particular person, group, etc. for special favour or disfavour...”
The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) (also
known as CEDAW) provides a more elaborate definition of the word “discrimination” when
applied in relation to women. Article I CEDAW provides as follows,
“……discrimination against women” shall mean any distinction, exclusion or
restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or
nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women irrespective of their marital
status, on a basis of equality of men and women of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political, economic, cultural, civil or any other field.
The rule easily falls within the four walls of the above definitions. For clearly, its effect is to
single out women for disfavour in cases involving sexual allegations in the sense that it nullifies
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of their rights to equality before the law and equal
protection of the law, indeed, in such cases, the testimony of a victim is not, of itself, valuable. It
is suspect; and this is, essentially, because she is a woman or a girl! (See Neville and 3 others-