Empowered to Make a Difference : My Journey to Advocacy

I am Cynthia Janet Amweno. Growing up in the rural settings of a small town in Eastern Uganda, I witnessed a lot of injustice and abuse propagated against girls and women and from the young age of 9 I decided I wanted to become a lawyer to help change the situation of the females in my community.

My mother gave birth to only girls and I painfully watched how society treated my parents with contempt and disrespect. My mother was looked down on by other women and my father was belittled by his colleagues and often times estopped from attending or participating in clan meetings because he had no son. For my sisters and I it was bad because our relatives did not acknowledge us as children and this just didnt hurt but it crushed me. The turning point for me was one fateful day when the wife to my fathers brother bluntly told my mother that in as much as she and my father were buying properties, her sons would inherit everything since my mother didnt have sons. I remember vividly asking my mother what I could do to stop anyone from wrongfully claiming what rightfully belonged to us and she replied that I had to study hard and become a lawyer and 10 years later I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in law. Not only did I make my parents proud but I defied the odds, I earned my parents the respect they once didnt have, my relatives who once wanted nothing to do with us calling us prostitutes now want to identify with us. I have become a center of reference for young girls who are being encouraged to pursue their education, I broke free from the chains of patriachy and cultural norms that girls can not achieve and I have my parents to thank for they encouraged us to be aggressive , assertive and focused.

Over 20 years later, I have come to the realization that I wasnt the only one facing these challenges because women world wide are facing issues of GBV and I am determined to join strong women in the fight for gender equality and equity in all spheres of life.

I am passionate about women's rights, gender justice, equity and equality and I its because of this passion that I decided to join World Pulse a community that I know and believe will not only enable me nature my passions, dreams and goals but also link me to like minded women who are thirsty for a more just and equitable society.

I am currently working on starting a Foundation to help women and girls reach their full potential through skilling, economic empowerment i.e financial loans, SRHR campaigns i.e pad/ sanitary drives to keep girls in school, offering probono services and starting up a GBV shelter for victims of sexual and domestic abuse. I believe by joining a community of women like I will be able to improve not only the skills I have attained over the years but also raise funds and gain knowledge on how to ran my Foundation to ensure that women and young girls in my community are not just emancipated but attain their full potential and indepence.