Does Inclusion Lead to More Successful Laws? : A Case Study of the Domestic Violence Act in Uganda

Sammanfattning: This thesis is based on a field study conducted in Uganda in the fall of 2015. The study is analyzing at the process behind the Domestic Violence Act, a law that came in to place in 2010, and try to scrutinize it by using the inclusive democracy theory of Iris Marion Young. In the study numerous interviews with several women’s organizations, as well as representatives for the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and local police officers are presented.   The study aims at getting a better understanding of what is necessary to create successful laws to prevent violence against women. The main objective is to answer the question how inclusion, or the lack of it, can influence the success of legal norms and laws regarding violence against women. The result of this study shows that inclusion could play a role in a law’s success. However inclusion is not enough, other factors such as allocating enough money in the budget together with educating both the public and the officials that are enforcing the law, are also of great importance for a law’s success. Yet, this study also shows that a greater inclusion could affect these factors in a positive way, however inclusion alone is most likely not sufficient for creating a successful law