New law addresses sexual harassment

Uganda's Parliament has passed a sweeping law on sexual offences, repealing some of the provisions in the decades-old legislation. BBC News reports that the new measures provide for the establishment of a national sexual offenders’ register. Anyone convicted of a sexual offence will have their name entered in that record within 10 days of the court ruling. And, for the first time, laws targeting street harassment, public sexual assault as well as harassment in professional settings have been introduced. These include ‘cat-calling, indecent public exposure or demanding sexual favours in return for a job or academic progress’. The law also stipulates at least seven years imprisonment for anyone who shares explicit digital content on the Internet.