The much-debated comments of Tourism State Minister about Uganda’s ‘curvaceous women’ being a potential tourist attraction, as well as the Miss Curvy Uganda pageant at whose launch the minister made the comments, have both found their way to Makerere University’s Law School! As the subject of a coursework assignment.
Two weeks ago as he launched the Miss Curvaceous Uganda beauty pageant, Hon. Kiwanda said: “We have naturally-endowed, nice-looking women that are amazing to look at. Why don’t we use these people as a strategy to promote our tourism industry?”
Now renowned legal scholar and fiery feminist, Professor Sylvia Tamale, made Kiwanda’s comments as well as the Miss Curvy Pageant the subject of a coursework she has given students taking the Course Unit of ‘Gender and the Law’ which she teaches.
Prof. Tamale asks her students to reference conceptual frameworks on gender and explain how the Miss Curvy Pageant is a form of Gender-based violence. She also asks them to establish if there are any laws that address ‘this specific form of gender violence’, let alone assess their implementation and enforcement as well as the challenges they face.