Breaking the Silence: How ACR Is Empowering Children to Report Abuse in Uganda
Thousands of children across Uganda experience abuse in silence every single day. In homes, schools, and communities, violence against children continues largely unreported — not because it isn’t happening, but because children don’t know they have the right to speak up, or they fear no one will listen.
At Advocacy for Child Relief (ACR), we believe silence is not protection. It is a barrier we are determined to break.
The Scale of the Problem
Uganda is home to over 18 million children. A significant number of them experience some form of abuse — physical, sexual, emotional, or neglect — before they reach adulthood. A 2013 study assessing safety in Uganda’s schools revealed a troubling reality: of children who experienced sexual abuse at school, only 40% of girls and 39% of boys ever reported it. The majority suffered in silence.
The reasons are many. Children lack awareness of their rights. Reporting mechanisms are weak or inaccessible. In many cases, the perpetrators are parents, teachers, guardians, or relatives — people the child depends on and fears. Cultural norms often discourage children from speaking about abuse, and communities sometimes prioritize family reputation over a child’s safety.
ACR’s Approach
ACR tackles this crisis from multiple angles. We don’t just work with children — we work with everyone around them.
In schools, we train teachers to recognize signs of abuse and respond with sensitivity and accountability. We work with School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations to build reporting systems that are accessible, safe, and child-friendly. We advocate for school policies that explicitly address violence and create consequences for perpetrators.
In communities, we engage local leaders, religious figures, and parents in open conversations about child rights. We challenge the cultural norms that normalize violence and replace them with new standards — where a child’s safety is everyone’s responsibility.
With children themselves, we run awareness sessions that teach them what abuse looks like, that it is never their fault, and exactly what to do and who to tell if it happens to them. We give them language, confidence, and trusted pathways to seek help.
What Change Looks Like
Change doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like a 10-year-old girl telling her teacher what happened to her on the way to school. Sometimes it looks like a community elder standing up in a village meeting to say that hitting children is not discipline — it is violence. Sometimes it looks like a school displaying its child protection policy on the wall for the first time.
These moments matter. They are the foundation of a safer Uganda for every child.
You Can Help
Breaking the silence requires sustained effort, resources, and community will. Your support helps ACR continue this vital work — training more teachers, reaching more communities, and empowering more children to speak up and be heard.
Because every child deserves to be safe. And every child deserves to be believed.
