Born from Taboo: The struggle of children born of incest in Acholi

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Until she was detached from paternal care, Jovia Laker (not her real name) realized she was not just fighting for parental love but also carrying the burdens handed down by traditions that had banished her to a life of rejection. When her birth was confirmed as the result of incest, her father, who is a blood brother to her mother, was separated from the family. The mother moved to live with her maternal relatives, while the father remained in his home.

The Acholi traditions hold incest as a taboo, but when children are involved, the consequences are silently lethal. For children like Laker, paying for the “misdeeds” of their parents becomes a painful, lifelong struggle. “You aren’t a child of blessing, you don’t have a father, this isn’t your home, this isn’t your father and you must not come back here because you will become insane or die if you do,” Laker narrates.

There is no substantial data on the number of children living on the streets of Gulu. The police estimate the number to be about 600, although researchers believe the actual figure is likely higher. The 2023 Uganda Police Force annual report recorded 13,144 defilement cases, with 12,818 victims being female and 326 male.

The report highlights that 97 girls were defiled by their biological fathers, while 90 were defiled by their guardians, totaling 236 cases registered within the year. Media and Gender Specialist Dr. Patricia Litho noted that sexual violations continue to expose children to vulnerability, leading some to live on the streets while others are raised by guardians.

The Struggle of a Child Born from Incest

Within three years of her birth, Laker’s father was a mystery. Her mother kept it a secret, telling her family that her father had gone to work in a foreign land. The truth surfaced when a land title document leaked, showing her name as a successor to her father’s property. This sparked the search for her father, and it was no longer a secret that Laker was born from incest.

Her paternal care was forbidden. She not only lost her home but also found herself fatherless, surrounded by moral questions as she fought for survival while society looked the other way. Dr. Patricia argues that once children go through such devastation, it affects their confidence and lowers their self-esteem. She urges families to ensure the safety of their children at home.

Life with Guardians

Now 19, Laker has lost count of the many primary schools she attended before sitting for her Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) in 2024, constantly moving from one guardian to another for shelter. At just 13, when her grandmother began to fall ill, Laker was chosen to care for her while she was about to sit for her Primary Seven exams.

“My grandmother kept telling me, ‘Laker, although I die, don’t cry because I have become of age. If you find me lying dead, just clean my body and call people to come and pick me up and bury,’” she recalls. But adapting to a new life was tough. While other children went to school, Laker would prepare food for the family before leaving for class.

“I had to balance school with chores. I would sleep for four hours each day. My mother once told me that girls don’t sleep early,” Laker says. Her grandmother was battling chronic illness. “I had to be there each time she would ease herself, and I made sure nobody knew what I was carrying to the toilet,” Laker explains.

A Life of Isolation

Laker’s parents were both 18 and 19 years old when she was conceived, and her mother conceived just months before her Primary Leaving Examination. “Laker, don’t you know you are born under the desk?” Laker reflects with a wistful smile as she remembers her many encounters with caregivers.

Although she needed someone to confide in, this was a far-fetched dream as her life was regulated away from her peers. Her world revolved around her grandmother and a few elderly people. Often, tears would drive her on her way to school, but she would wipe them away before entering class.

“I told our senior female teacher about what I was going through at home. She didn’t believe me. She said, ‘Laker, children don’t do what you’re telling me. Don’t be stupid, go back to class and concentrate.’” Her struggle is far from over, but her grandmother has recognized her potential. She warns her of the challenges she will likely face.

“Not everyone who looks at you will take you merely. If you haven’t recognized that, then you should know that everyone who sees you isn’t a mere dog,” Laker recalls a night whisper from her grandmother. “You are such a beautiful young girl growing up that every man would pray for, be it a youth like you or older men. Be careful, because you aren’t that ugly,” she laughs.

This advice inspired Laker to embark on a journey to represent Uganda with her beauty, though she knows that cultural barriers will make her path difficult. Today, she envisions becoming Miss Uganda and an orthopedic doctor. She is waiting for her results from the 2024 Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) before proceeding to higher secondary school.

“I want to be that child my mother will rely on. I am her only hope, her only child. But I think I have become stronger than her. Each time she cries, I am the one who calms her down,” Laker notes.

How Incest is Driving Homeless Children onto the Streets of Gulu

Between April and December 2024, Uganda Radio Network conducted a random survey in Gulu City, revealing a link between some street children and incest. The survey, carried out on 13 children aged between 7 and 19, found that 10 of them were living on the streets through interconnected criminal networks, while 3 were receiving rehabilitation at community-based centers. Justice Kidega (not his real name) did not know his father until he was 13 years old.

His mother had told him his father died a month after he was conceived. While playing with his peers, rumors about his father’s whereabouts spread. He was eventually chased away after his father impregnated his own sister.

“I came back home from swimming and burned three grass-thatched houses. How can her brother be my father when she told me my father was dead? But that’s it,”Kidega recalls. His mother eventually admitted the truth and took him to his father, who had settled in a distant place with another woman. But like many others, Kidega ended up on the streets of Gulu.

Family Breakdown in Acholi

Acholi Paramount Chief David Onen Acana II acknowledges the challenges faced by families, particularly in the wake of the conflict that displaced many people into camps. Acana explains that, traditionally, incest cases were kept secret to protect the child from stigma.

When such cases became public, the child would be separated from the father and sent to live with the maternal family. When incest results in a child, Acana says that rituals are performed to separate the couple, ensuring they are no longer involved with one another.

“Before separation, a lamb is slaughtered, its liver is cut in half, mixed with bitter herbs, and incantations are spoken by the elders. The couple must swallow the mixture to signify the end of their relationship,” Acana notes. However, when incest occurs over generations, a pot is broken, placed on the roof, and the family begins a new lineage.

“We haven’t interacted with these children because they don’t open up, but those whom we find and don’t have homes, the chiefs will take care of them,” Acana adds.

Incest isn’t allowed in Acholi…If that happens, you have to be separated with some rituals performed… People can marry after eight generations, but some can marry even after five generations, and there are rules to guide that. Children born from incest must be taken to live in their maternal land…

Who Benefits from Street Children?

While researchers highlight conflict as a key factor in pushing children onto the streets, there is disagreement on how to manage the emerging challenges of street children. African Centre for Research Executive Director Author Owori notes that some street children are there to survive, while others are victims of a failing social system.

“It’s hard to quantify children on the streets as a result of incest, but these children are considered a ‘floating population’ linked to criminality as a mode of survival,” Owori states. Owori also points out that political figures often use street children for personal gain, while commercial farmers exploit them for labor.

“There has been little focus on incest as a cause of homelessness, but this is a new landscape that needs special attention,” Owori observes. “If we institutionalize them, we’ll only make the streets more attractive due to pervasive incentives. But for those born from incest, it’s taboo, and the juvenile courts should handle it,” he concludes.

“See this girl as a product of incest. I imagine some are infected with chronic diseases, others are raped and have children they don’t even know the fathers of. Where is their world?” Dr. Patricia asks.

Healing from the Streets

Surviving on the streets is complex and dangerous. Some children fall victim to mob action, but others, like Kidega, are finding healing. Within six months on the streets, Kidega landed his first job. The scrap dealers had employed him to collect bottles on the streets in exchange for a plate of food each day, as he recalls. However, through his network, Kidega was connected to Hashtag, a youth-focused organization managing the reformation, rehabilitation, and remigration of street children in Northern Uganda.

He was enrolled in a four-month hands-on skill training that initially started with drama and short film production, equipping him with the performing arts skills for both survival and therapy. Like others, Kidega notes that drama not only relieves his pains from the streets but also shares its proceeds. He now plans to buy his own pieces of land in rural areas to build his home.

The Executive Director of Hashtag, Michael Ojok, revealed that over the last two years, the center has reunited about 75 street children with their families within the Acholi Sub-region.

Additionally, 500 other children who sought health care were linked to treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, post-abortion care, respiratory diseases, and skin diseases through their partnered health facilities. Ojok noted that, through theater productions, the children communicate their challenges and grievances.

Some have even featured in local movies, where they earn their livelihoods. “For a girl, people look at her as a source of income, and her challenges start much later. But for a boy, the challenges start right after birth because he is considered a threat,” Ojok highlighted.

Uganda criminalizes incest through the Sexual Offences Bill, and cultures would condemn such children, but for Laker and others, their struggles are far from over as they continue to battle their identity crisis.

****

URN