Sylvia Tamale

• Name — Sylvia Tamale • Honorific Prefix — Professor • Birth Name — Sylvia Tamale • Born — 1962 • Birthplace — Uganda • Education — Makerere University (Bachelor of Laws) Law Development Centre (Diploma in Legal Practice) Harvard University (Master of Laws) University of Minnesota (Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology) • Occupation — Lawyer, academic, and activist • Years Active — 1987 – present

Tamale received her Bachelor of Laws with honors from Makerere University, her Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, and her Doctor of Philosophy in sociology and feminist studies from the University of Minnesota in 1997. Tamale received her Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center, Kampala, in 1990, graduating at the top of her class. She retired in April 2022, at 63 years after serving for 37 years at Makerere University in the Faculty of Law.

Tamale has been a visiting professor at the African Gender Institute of the University of Cape Town and a visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin. In 2003 she was condemned by Ugandan conservatives for proposing that gay men and lesbians be included in the definition of "minority". Tamale was the dean of the Faculty of Law and Jurisprudence at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, from 2004 to 2008.

In March 2018, Makerere University selected Dr Tamale to chair a select five member committee to investigate the causes and increasing cases of "sexual harassment" at the public institution of higher learning. The report of the committee is expected in May 2018. As Dean of Faculty at Makerere University, she started the Sexual Harassment Policy, which prohibits sexual harassment on and off campus among anyone associated with the university. On May 18, 2018, Tamale presented the first report on sexual harassment that the select committee had investigated. She presented the research to students, staff, and public and private partners of Makerere University. The research was conducted using qualitative methods, consisting of 234 interviews, with 59% of the interviewees being women. She noted the importance of the media within her speech as it was instrumental in "creating a spotlight on the evils of sexual harassment hence increasing the awareness on the issue." Makerere University now reaffirms its zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment and is committed to creating an environment that respects all its member rights. She has spoken out in support of the traditional practice of labia stretching, arguing that any comparison to female genital mutilation is invalid.

• Illustration — Firoze Manji, Charmaine Pereira, and Tamale in conversation at the book launch of Decolonization and Afro-Feminism, 2020 Tamale's research includes work on gender and sexuality, women in politics, and feminist jurisprudence, third world women and the law, all while combining academia and activism. To her, feminism is "a belief/ideology in gender equity and doing something about it and overall about people's dignity and humanity." She encourages other feminists to actively participate in all levels of public offices and use education as a weapon to destroy various patriarchal structures of power within law, culture, language and media. She believes in the inclusivity of feminism by stating, "patriarchy hurts men too," and "we must recognize that not all women are the same. Not all women experience oppression the same way." She also includes religion within her inclusivity sentiments, stating, "you can be religious and feminist. There is a whole body of literature on interpreting the Bible to bring about gender equity." In 2003, Tamale was named the "Worst Woman of the Year" by a conservative bloc in Uganda. She was vilified for weeks within one of Kampala's daily newspapers, New Vision, as responsible for everything from the moral degeneration of the nation to the reason Ugandan teenagers were going to go to hell. She was attacked for suggesting that the term "minorities" should cover lesbian and gay citizens of Uganda in the Equal Opportunities Commission. She is a Working Group Member in the African Feminist Forum. The AFF brings African feminist activists to discuss strategy, refine approaches, and develop stronger networks to advance women's rights in Africa. She is an Advisory Board Member for the Open Society Foundations, an organization active in more than 120 countries that provides grants to individuals and groups toward building inclusive and vibrant democracies.

Tamale was interviewed by Dr. Purna Sen, Director of Policy at UN Women, for part of a research project called Above the Parapet. For this project, high-profile women who have had an impact on public life were interviewed in order to capture their views and experiences. The Sylvia Tamale interview was uploaded to YouTube on August 13, 2015, by London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Tamale talks about using Makerere University as a platform to get her message out there and her views on politics and the law, among many other topics. Speaking about her work, Tamale says, "I'm really not doing it for my colleagues. I'm doing it for the betterment of our society." Tamale also speaks about being attacked for being vocal about taboo subjects such as abortion. She also speaks about being named the Worst Woman of the Year. "The reason why I was the worst woman that year was...because of my speaking out...always talking about issues that was seen as against African tradition...against religion...I even made a button that says 'Worst Woman 2003' and I wear it with a lot of pride," Tamale said. Tamale also offered advice to any women aspiring to be in a position of power. "The world will try as much as possible to define who you are. Don't let the world define who you are. Define who you are yourself. Never ever shrink to fit the expectations of others. That pressure will always be there," Tamale said, "You cannot get any rewards without working for it. Nothing good comes easy."

She is married to Joe Oloka-Onyango a professor of law at Makerere University.