Although attitudes are slowly changing, illegitimacy is still a sensitive topic in Uganda, and the stigma attached to children born to unmarried parents remains strong. Such children say that being called “illegitimate” or “bastards” has had debilitating effects on their self-worth, mental health and school performance. Advocates stress that love and stability is more important to a child’s well-being than their parents’ marital status.
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by Apophia Agiresaasi Reporter, Thursday - February 16, 2012
KAMPALA, UGANDA – Samalie Namuyomba, 15, is in her third year at Mengo Senior Secondary School in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
Despite the fact that she is an educated young woman, she says that people identify her most with another label: an illegitimate child.
“One day, my stepdad had a quarrel with my mother, and I overheard him refer to me as a bastard,” she says, adding that her mother gave birth to her outside of wedlock.
“When my Mammy got married, she already had me,” she says. “So when she gave birth to other children with my Dad, I was not accepted.”
She says she suffered rejection both at home and at school because of the stigma attached to being “illegitimate” in Ugandan society.
“This rejection was both at home and at school, such that teachers together with other kids hated me,” she says.
She says she felt pressure to try to impress others so that her peers would accept her as legitimate.
“As a child, I often did many things to please my so-called friends, but it was in vain,” she says.
Samalie says she developed an inferiority complex from the constant criticism of herself and her mother by their relatives and stepfamily. She says this also affected her performance in school.
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