A 36-year-old woman in Swaziland / eSwatini was beaten
by three of her close relatives and ordered to leave home because she had no
job and was not married.
The case which was reported in local media shines a
spotlight on the plight of women in the male-dominated kingdom ruled by King
Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The Times of
Swaziland reported on Wednesday (16 January 2019) that the woman whom it
named had been beaten by three close relatives, including a woman. They hit her
in the face with a brick. The newspaper published a photograph of her with a swollen
face.
The Times
reported, ‘She was given strict instructions to leave the homestead and get
employment or find a husband to marry her.’
The newspaper added she said, ‘she was being blamed
for misfortunes by relatives at the homestead because she was not married’.
The case highlights the position of women in Swaziland
where by tradition they are considered to be owned by their fathers or their
husbands.
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.
In March 2018 the European Union in Swaziland began funding a three-year
project called Supporting Women Empowerment & Equality in Swaziland (SWEES)
to advocate for and support women’s rights in the kingdom.
In 2009 a report conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
on behalf of the Swaziland Ministry of Economic Planning and Development found,
‘Unfortunately, the status of women is so lower than that of men, that she will
not eat until everyone has eaten.’
During meal times, the women waited for the men and the youth to eat
before they did. ‘Eating last also means that her choice of food is limited,’
the report said. ‘Traditionally, she does not consume milk and its products at
her marital home, unless she earns permission through the offer of liphakelo
beast by her husband.’ This is when the husband gives the woman a cow for her
own use.
In September 2018 a report published
by Afrobarometer found women’s rights continued to be ‘a
challenging issue’ in Swaziland.
‘Violence and abuse are a major development concern in
eSwatini profoundly affecting women and children,’ the report stated.
About one in three women experienced some form of
sexual violence as a child, and one in four experienced other forms of physical
violence as a child.
After surveying 1,200 adults in Swaziland,
Afrobarometer reported people thought the Swazi Government was doing well in
promoting opportunities and equality for women but fewer than one in three (29
percent) of people thought that these had actually improved ‘compared to a few
years ago’.
The survey suggested, ‘Strong majorities of the Swazi
population support equal rights for women when it comes to land and work. About
seven in 10 (69 percent) say women should have the same right as men to own and
inherit land, and almost two-thirds (64 percent) disagree with the idea that
men should have more right than women to jobs when employment is scarce.
‘However, when it comes to gender roles in the home,
seven in 10 respondents (71 percent) prefer that a woman, rather than a man,
take care of the household and children.’
See also
Rise in
gender-based violence
Sex bill
highlights culture issues
Shocking
lives for Swazi women
Wives say
husbands can rape them
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