The Anti-Pornography Act and gender relations in Uganda: an analysis of how patriarchy and legislation interact

Abstract

This article analyses how the Ugandan Anti-Pornography Act interacted with gender relations in Uganda from a critical-feminist point of view. Relying on interview data, media reports, and secondary sources and using a practice-theoretic approach to gender relations and changes therein, the article traces how the APA legitimised, encouraged, and enabled violent and misogynist practices. Yet, it also informed feminist and radical practices pushing for bodily self-determination. Thus, the Anti-Pornography Act reinforced patriarchal gender relations and, simultaneously, contributed to the re-politicisation of the feminist movement in Uganda. In a time of global backlashes against feminism and equality, this article details the far-reaching retrogressive and progressive ramifications anti-feminist legislation can have and thus contributes to current and necessary debates.