2 M* X" V; M! |, B( Q" T9 dKAMPALA, Uganda, April 5 (AP) — A Ugandan court scrapped the nation’s adultery law on Thursday, saying it was unconstitutional and favored men. 3 S1 r# k5 q, G/ x9 b + B- d4 `6 i2 u# ?- IUnder that law, a woman having an adulterous relationship could be punished with a fine or a prison sentence of up to 10 years, while men could have such relationships without punishment. A woman’s lover could also escape punishment. 3 W) L* d$ \9 v+ e; ^7 Q3 ~, r6 a& |: d% E# _0 }
“It is unfair for women being victimized and the men being left free,” said Justice John Egwau, one of five judges who unanimously overturned the law at Uganda’s Constitutional Court. “The adultery law is biased in favor of men.” 7 }* }- A1 ?6 n( r! P4 R, G1 K" f! q5 T$ F
The court also tossed out a law that denied widows the same rights and inheritance as widowers. # @/ o/ f% m) j/ p- W% Q: \, E( X6 M K, s
The changes were prompted by a group of female lawyers called Law and Advocacy for Women. 1 j* p6 {# f |# U D6 `& B' B " h6 {8 ]( I. H$ X7 e; C4 J“The ruling is good for all the women of Uganda,” said the group’s leader, Dora Byamukama. “There is need for all women and men to be treated the same.”5 X0 K- {5 D8 p
4 A8 o% L$ s3 r* eSome men’s advocacy groups said they feared that the ruling would encourage Ugandan women to stray. ; T# O8 S4 b) I# ` ]: J: M( e. t1 O4 g {6 A% v' _8 I _
“Now the women are going to become stubborn,” said Simon Mukasa, head of Men in Development, a group that helps unemployed men. “Married women will go out with other men well knowing that there is no law against what they are doing.”
