Perry Aritua


Perry Aritua is a Ugandan lawyer and women’s rights advocate. She is currently the Executive Director of Women's Democracy Network Uganda Chapter, where she advocates for women's engagement in politics and democratic leadership.

Career

Aritua is a co-founder of WDN-Uganda when the International Republican Institute's Uganda office closed in 2011. The organization is focused on empowering women to participate in political leadership, consolidate democratic processes, and promote inclusive decision-making participation. WDN-Uganda under her leadership has focused on mentoring, civic education, and gender-responsive policy advocacy.
Her works reveal some of the difficulties women face when they run for office, for example; unfair treatment and exclusion. She has shown that it is crucial to prepare women for leadership from the grassroots levels and involve men in supporting women to have equal opportunities.

Arrest during 2021 elections

On 14 January 2021, during Uganda’s general elections, Aritua was arrested along with 25 other civil society members at the National Election Watch–Uganda observation center in Kampala. Authorities accused them of observing elections without accreditation, despite their possession of official credentials. International human rights groups condemned the arrest and called for their immediate release.