In rural Uganda, where poverty is widespread and traditional family structures define daily life, the discovery of a young woman’s same-sex attraction often leads to a cruel and coercive family intervention. Forced marriage to a man is seen by families as a “correction,” a way to align the woman with culturally prescribed roles of motherhood and economic contribution.
For many bisexual and lesbian women from low-income communities, this is not a rare occurrence but a painful reality. Cultural traditions, including bride price, inheritance rights, and social status, often leave these women vulnerable to forced unions. Society’s view of a woman’s worth as tied solely to her ability to marry and have children forces many into marriages they neither want nor consent to. This leads to severe emotional, psychological, and physical harm.
Reports from organizations like Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) and the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) have shed light on how cultural expectations, poverty, and LGBTQ rights violations intersect. Many of these women face rejection from their families and become more dependent on them, trapped in marriages they cannot escape. A 2019 FARUG report titled “The Lived Realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer (LBQ) Women in Uganda” interviewed over 200 women from regions such as Jinja, Mbale, Tororo, and Kampala, documenting stories of forced marriages, physical violence, and family abandonment.
One anonymized account highlights the devastating effects of being discovered as attracted to other girls. After her father’s death, a young woman spent time between maternal and paternal homes. During this time, her secret romantic encounters with other girls were uncovered by her grandmother, prompting immediate family intervention. Her mother punished her severely and declared her unworthy of support. This woman was then forced into a marriage with a stranger in a rural area, where she faced sexual coercion, pregnancy, and exploitation as farm labor.
This tragedy is not uncommon in rural Uganda, where poverty worsens the vulnerability of women. Many families view daughters as valuable assets, meant to secure alliances and provide economic benefits through marriage. Refusing to follow these traditions often leads to harsh consequences such as homelessness, social exclusion, or violence. Religious groups, especially evangelical churches in rural Uganda, contribute to this cycle by framing same-sex attraction as immoral or sinful, offering marriage or prayer as solutions to these perceived moral failings.
Though Uganda’s laws prohibit forced marriage with a minimum legal age of 18, enforcement remains weak in rural areas. Families often bypass these legal protections by framing the unions as moral obligations. HRAPF’s violation trackers from 2019 to 2021 have recorded multiple instances of forced marriages, evictions, threats, and pressure for LBQ women to marry men.
Escaping these forced marriages is a difficult and dangerous endeavor. Many women flee to urban centers like Kampala, where they work in informal sectors such as waitressing or small trading. However, even in cities, family surveillance remains a constant threat, with relatives using community networks to track and punish these women. This leads to a life of hiding their true identities while raising children from coerced relationships.
Advocates emphasize the need for economic empowerment as a means to resist these pressures. Offering programs that provide skills training, financial independence, and safe housing could help women challenge the hold that families have over them. However, until the intersection of poverty, gender inequality, and family control is addressed, the cycle of forced marriage will likely continue.
“These are not isolated cases,” said an LBQ activist from a Kampala-based group in 2021, speaking anonymously for safety. “They reflect how economic dependence and family control trap poor rural women who love women, turning private feelings into public crises.”
In rural Uganda, where cultural norms and economic pressures govern women’s lives, the struggle of bisexual and lesbian women remains largely unseen. Forced marriages are not just personal tragedies; they are human rights violations that require urgent action. Without systemic change to address both economic vulnerability and patriarchal control, the fight for autonomy and dignity will persist for these women.
