The European Union in
Swaziland is funding a multi-million emalangeni three-year project to advocate
for and support women’s rights in the kingdom where many are legally treated as
children.
It is called Supporting
Women Empowerment & Equality in Swaziland (SWEES) and will be implemented
by the Coordination Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO) in
Swaziland.
EU Ambassador in Swaziland
Esmeralda Hernandez Aragones told a launch meeting at the Sibane hotel in Ezulwini
on Friday (16 March 2018) the project aimed to create an enabling environment
for the protection and promotion of women and girls’ rights in Swaziland.
The Swazi Observer reported, ‘The ambassador said high levels of gender-based
violence, poverty which bears the face of a woman, HIV/AIDS as well as lack of
enabling legal framework to protect and promote women’s rights continue to
persist in excluding women’s meaningful participation in communities.’
A sum the equivalent of
E3.7 million (US$308,000) will be made available.
Women remain oppressed in
Swaziland and a main reason for this is King Mswati III who rules as an
absolute monarch, according to report on women in the kingdom published in
2016.
ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) reported that despite
claims that Swaziland was a modern country, ‘the reality is, despite pledges
and commitments, women continue to suffer discrimination, are treated as
inferior to men, and are denied rights.’
ACTSA added, ‘The King has demonstrated he is
unwilling to change the status quo and promotes multiple aspects of the
patriarchal society.’
In a briefing paper called Women’s Rights in Swaziland
ACTSA said, ‘Swaziland has a deeply patriarchal society, where polygamy and
violence against women are normalised, deeply unequal cultural and religious
norms, and a male monarch who is unwilling to make any change. All this
contributes towards the daily discrimination faced by women.’
Among discriminations against women highlighted by
ACTSA were the high levels of girls dropping out of school. ACTSA reported,
‘Cultural gender norms dictate that women and girls provide the bulk of
household-related work, including physical and emotional care. As a result,
girls are under pressure to drop out from school, especially where there are
few adults available to care for children and the elderly, for example, in
child-headed households.’
ACTSA also highlighted that women lacked the legal
rights to administer their own assets. It reported, ‘Most married women are
denied equal status as legal adults: they cannot buy or sell property or land,
sign contracts or conduct legal proceedings without the consent of their
husbands. Many widows, denied the right to own land, are forced from their
homes.’
Women also have few chances to find jobs. Swaziland
was ranked 150th out of 188 countries in the world in the Gender
Inequality Index, ACTSA reported. ‘Men control household resources and thus
women remain dependent. This often results in women seeking alternative avenues
for income, including transactional and commercial sex,’ it said.
Some of the statistics on ‘life as a female in
Swaziland’ quoted in the report include:
One in three girls experience sexual violence before
they reach the age of 18 (Amnesty International, 2010);
31 percent of women are HIV-positive (UNAIDS, 2014);
70 percent of female sex workers are HIV-positive
(AVERT, 2015);
Early and forced marriage is ‘normal’ (Amnesty
International, 2010);
Marital rape is legal (Amnesty International, 2010);
Out of 65 delegates in the House of Assembly, only
four are women (6 percent) (Department of Gender and Family Affairs, 2014).
See also
RISE IN GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
SEX
BILL HIGHLIGHTS CULTURE ISSUES
SHOCKING LIVES FOR SWAZI WOMEN
WIVES SAY HUSBANDS CAN RAPE THEM
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/wives-say-husbands-can-rape-them.html
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