Authorities in Uganda have banned Funeral parties known as ‘Disco Matanga’, which has been a hotbed for sexual abuse.
Disco Matanga, which means ‘funeral disco’ in Swahili, involves men paying young women dancing to raise money for burial expenses.
The very act has been condemned by rights groups who claim that it leads to prostitution and sexual exploitation.
“Matanga disco is an evil dance. We have stopped it and those who are found holding it will face the full force of the law,” cabinet minister Justine Kasule Lumumba told AFP.
“Young girls are made to perform on stage in skimpy dresses and seductively dance to attract men to contribute to burial expenses, and these performances are done at night where the girls are sexually abused,” she said.
Lumumba said that the groups started in Kenya but had spread to the eastern border districts of Uganda. In 2018, Kenya took action against the groups.
Suleiman Walugembe Juuko, an official in Uganda’s Namayingo district, informed AFP that the parties frequently included heavy alcohol and drug consumption and often descended into violence.
“We have recorded two fatalities related to Matanga discos — one of a young girl who was gang raped and another of a boy who was killed in an attack as he returned from the disco,” Juuko said.
“We are enforcing the ban,” he added.