Tom Bagoole
Tom Bagoole, along with his wife Esther, is the founder of Healing Focus Orphanage Centre (HFOC), a Ugandan NGO that has been running a school for orphans in Busiiro Village in Luuka, Uganda since 2010. Tom Bagoole has actively been pursuing some men who raped two female boarders at the HFOC school. One of the perpetrators, a powerful individual in the village, was jailed last year after the human rights defender pursued the case with Plan International.
The Ugandan government continues to limit freedom of expression and association with human rights defenders being subjected to threats, intimidation and judicial harassment due to their legitimate human rights work. A number of human rights organisations have reported break-ins at their offices. Particularly at risk are human rights defenders advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
