Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). COURTESY PHOTO.
The new executive director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima has advised government to decriminalize prostitution and homosexuality.
According to her, this will curb the rising number of HIV infections in Uganda.
Byanyima claimed during an interview with a state aided news daily on Sunday that without a law criminalizing prostitution and homosexuality, individuals engaged in such acts will come out for HIV testing and treatment.
“There are also infection rates among sex workers, we can reduce that by removing the law that criminalizes them so that they can come out for treatment. That also means that their sexual partners will not be infected,” she told The New Vision.
“We have a law criminalizing homosexuality. Most of the society does not agree with it, but the result is that we drive gays, lesbian and transgender people underground and they do not come out for HIV testing and treatment,” she added. “That means they and their sexual partners will continue lacking the services and also spreading the infection.”
Mrs Byanyima told The New Vision government has no business engaging in moralizing the public.
“We need to decriminalize homosexuality and let the Church and the mosque be the ones to preach about sexual behavior. The government should not be in the bussiness of moralizing about sex. Let them leave that to the moralists. Let the government simply deliver services to all people without discrimination. That would be the best way to end this epidemic,” she said.
Asked if decriminalizing prostitution and homosexuality will not encourage more people to join the ‘trade,’ Byanyima purported there is no evidence to show that ‘where there is no law to criminalize sex work, there is more sex work.’
“We are not saying legalize sex work. We are saying decriminalize it. Take away the law. Get out of moralizing. Leave moralists to talk and teach about it. You know my father (the late Mzee Boniface Byanyima) was a politician. As a national leader, he used to wonder and say, “Why is the Government getting itself in the bussiness of moralizing people’s sexual orientation? Is it going to be knocking on people’s bedrooms to find out who they are sleeping with, who they love? Is this the bussiness of Government really?” He didn’t see the need for a law on sexual orientation. He thought this is something which is in the realm of morality, so it can be left to the moralists, and the religious. And I agreed with my father on that,” she said.
“I advise the Government to do the bussiness of government, which is to deliver services to all citizens. Concentrate on that – giving health, education, protection to all people. Leave the judgement to God and His representatives in the religious institutions,” she added.
“Homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture”
Before it was struck down by the courts, The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was endorsed by several clergy including Archbishop Stanley Ntagali who said the Church of Uganda was encouraged by the work of the Ugandan parliament in amending the bill.
Ntagali urged that “homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture” and that it is a perversion of the created order regarding family.
With reference to theological teachings, the Bible describes homosexuality as an immoral and unnatural sin (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). Regarding prostitution, God forbids involvement is the act, and desires that we stay pure and use our bodies as tools for His use and glory (Romans 6:13).
