Rita Achiro leads the Uganda Women’s Network, which has supported the legislation.

“You know, there’s the African thing that your husband can’t rape you. You know, they’ll tell you how can your husband rape you? It’s an entitlement. That’s, that’s the belief people have, so we are still going ‘round in circles trying to safeguard women using conditions under which she can deny the other sex. Ideally, it shouldn’t happen like that -- there shouldn’t be conditions. Rape is rape.”

In the countries that have passed laws against marital rape, punishments differ widely. They include fines and prison time -- from eight days in Burundi to life imprisonment in Zimbabwe. However, activists say sentencing rules are not respected. And they say few women bring rape charges, and few men are punished.

There is much cultural pressure on women not to bring charges. And many women resist putting their husbands in jail because they are the financial providers for the family.

If they seem to have little effect, why even pass laws against marital rape? Some activists in Africa say it is important to pass such laws to send a strong message that a woman is not her husband’s property.

Men Help Stop Rape in Africa

Gender-based violence has long been seen as a woman’s issue, even though most gender-based crimes are carried out by men. Now, VOA’s East Africa Correspondent Gabe Joselow reports, there are more and more programs across Africa to end gender-based violence. He says these programs work with men and dispute traditional beliefs about what it means to be a man.