Swaziland teenage pregnancies, gender violence high during coronavirus lockdown

Teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence in Swaziland (eSwatini) have risen during the present coronavirus lockdown, Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku reported.

He said out of 400 schools surveyed, 261 teenagers were found to be pregnant.  Of these 44 were in primary school and 217 in secondary and high school. Many schools have been closed as part of a national patrial lockdown to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

He said this at the Council of Swaziland Churches annual general meeting in Manzini.

He also said that during lockdown there had been an increase in the number of gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual violence cases reported. He said the reports were made at a time when his office had started a campaign to end unintended pregnancies. 

He said children, women, men and persons with disability were abused in different forms. He called this a violation of human rights.

He called on churches to use the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (SODV) to help combat this ‘scourge’.

In October 2020, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini blamed the use of alcohol for some of the violence. He spoke following reports of women and children who had been murdered mostly by their lovers. This included a mother and her four-year-old son who were allegedly stabbed and had their throats slit open by a man believed to be her boyfriend.

In September 2020 a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report stated the coronavirus pandemic had led to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence against children. According to official Swazi police figures, during the period of lockdown between 27 March and 19 April, 299 sexual and gender-based violence cases were reported of which 53 were rape and 213 domestic violence cases. The age group 12 to 17 years had been more vulnerable to sexual violence. In April alone, 30 out of 47 reported rape cases were from this group.

 

See also

Swaziland sees increase in sexual violence against children as schools closed by coronavirus https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/09/swaziland-sees-increase-in-sexual.html

Doubts over survey result that suggests attitudes on wife-beating improving in Swaziland https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/10/doubts-over-survey-result-that-suggests.html

Customary law lets husbands rape wives

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2016/08/custom-law-lets-husbands-rape-wives.html

Swaziland High Court judge calls for debate on legalising abortion

A High Court judge in the deeply conservative kingdom of Swaziland (eSwatini) has started a debate about legalising abortion.

Judge Qinisile Mabuza heard a case involving a 26-year-old woman who was accused of causing the death of her four-year-old son, by drowning him in a river.

The eSwatini Observer reported that the child’s father had denied paternity, leaving her to rise the child herself. This prompted the judge to question what provisions were available for women who found themselves in similar situations.

The Swazi Constitution provides that abortion might be allowed on medical or therapeutic grounds, including where a doctor certifies that continued pregnancy will endanger the life or constitute a serious threat to the physical health of the woman; continued pregnancy will constitute a serious threat to the mental health of the woman; there is serious risk that the child will suffer from physical or mental defect of such a nature that the child will be irreparably seriously handicapped. 

However, no law exists to put the constitutional provisions into effect. 

According to the Observer, ‘In her subsequent remarks, she [Judge Mabuza] hinted that she viewed the current situation as shackling women’s autonomy, making an undertaking to tackle the current ban on abortion before she retires from the bench.

‘In fact, the learned judge believes it would be reasonable to allow women to make a decision on whether to perform an abortion.’

The Observer reported, she added some of the rights of women had been addressed through the 2018 Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act and it was time that society explored the possibility of legalising abortion as well.

Later, a number of representatives from organisations within Swaziland supported the idea of a debate. Acting Director Bongani Msibi of the Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS), a leader in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights delivery and youth programming in Swaziland, said the illegality of abortion often posed serious risks to women, and that legalisation could help to protect their reproductive and health rights.

Acting Director Zanele Thabede of Women and the Law of Southern Africa (WLSA) said abortion law reform should be discussed. She told the Observer it was important to have meaningful conversations whatever your beliefs about abortion.

Head of the Human Rights  and  Integrity Commission Sabelo Masuku said the group was in support of the call by the judge to have Swaziland revisit its position on abortion.

Because abortions are illegal in Swaziland it is difficult to say accurately how many are performed in the kingdom. However, in August 2018 the Times of Swaziland reported that every month, nurses at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital in Manzini attended more than 100 cases of young women who had committed illegal abortions.

The IRIN news agency, quoting FLAS reported that in October 2012 more than 1,000 women were treated for abortion-related complications at a single clinic in Swaziland.

 

See also

Death of Swaziland schoolgirl after illegal abortion highlights suffering of women in kingdom

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/04/death-of-swaziland-schoolgirl-after.html

 

U.S. halts funding to Swaziland NGO as anti-abortion policy bites

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/08/us-halts-funding-to-swaziland-ngo-as.html

 

Swaziland college principal reveals role abortions play in lives of his students

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/08/swaziland-college-principal-reveals.html

Swaziland Senator Princess Phumelele says woman have duty to give husbands sex on demand

A member of parliament and member of the Royal Family in Swaziland (eSwatini) Senator Princess Phumelele said women had a duty to allow their husbands to have sex with them and they should not refuse.

She also criticised parliament for passing the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act in 2018.

The eSwatini Observer (formerly Swazi Observer) reported, ‘She said it was wrong for women to be allowed to refuse their spouses conjugal rights yet it was their responsibility to do so.’

It added, ‘She said she wondered how the Act was passed by Parliament because some of the legislators were against it, seeing that they cause more violence as it would be difficult for men to accept that their wives would sometimes refuse to help them sexually.’

The Observer reported she said if wives wanted to be sexually satisfied, the husbands had to be responsible for that satisfaction. If any of the parties wanted sexual satisfaction, there should be no reason for the other party to refuse.

Later, Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) Director Xolani Hlatjwako said, ‘Women have the right to say no in any circumstance, even if they’re married. We had advocated for the inclusion of marital rape in the SODV for this very reason: so that it may be known that women are not objects for men’s sexual pleasure.’

She told the Observer, ‘Princess Phumelele, for someone in her position, owes the nation an apology and should retract her statement.’

The Princess, along with all other Senators in Swaziland, is not elected but appointed by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

In April 2018 Princess Phumelele told a consultative meeting with the Senate Deputy Prime Minister’s office portfolio committee that married women who did not want to be raped by their husbands should avoid sleeping in the bedroom.

The Swazi Observer, reported at the time that the Princess, ‘said in the event a wife was not in the mood to engage in sexual activities they should not sleep in the same room as their husbands so that they don’t find themselves in a tricky situation. 

‘She said long ago Swazi women would go back home in the event they were faced with such problems in their marital home.’

The newspaper reported her saying, ‘Do not allow him to touch or play with you because he might think you are playing hard to get.’

In traditional Swazi culture women are treated as children who are owned by their menfolk (usually their husbands or fathers.) They have no legal rights.

In October 2017, four in six married women interviewed by a newspaper in Swaziland said their husbands had the right to rape them. The Swazi News reported some wives said their husbands deserved sex whenever they wanted.

See also

Princess's ‘solution’ to marital rape

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/04/princesss-solution-to-marital-rape.html

Call for Swazi men and women to share experiences of gender-based violence

A campaign is underway in Swaziland (eSwatini) aimed at getting both women and men to share their experiences of gender-based violence. They are being asked to write their own stories as part of ‘My Body, My Experience.’

The Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) in a statement widely circulated on social media said, ‘Magnitudes of women and children are subjected to gender-based violence (GBV). GBV is not only limited to the home but it is a lived experience even outside the home. It is prevalent in the workplaces, cultural (national events), in schools and tertiary institutions.

‘Many laws are in place in Swaziland to combat GBV but unfortunately it persists. The enactment of Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act has been welcomed with mixed feelings. Enthusiasm from women activists and the progressive camp, whilst the conservatives and traditionalists remain skeptical.’

A demonstration in Manzini, the main commercial city of Swaziland, in August 2019 called for the increase in the number of murders of women and children in the kingdom to be declared a national emergency. The call for action echoed one made by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in September 2018. It said it would support the kingdom’s government and make GBV a national crisis. UNFPA’s Officer In Charge Margaret Thwala-Tembe told a workshop that marginalised and vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities and LGBTI should be included.

The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) has reported that one in three Swazi girls will experience some form of sexual violence by the time they are 18 years old, while almost half of Swazi women will experience some form of sexual violence in their lives.

The stories from ‘My Body, My Experience’ will be published online as part of the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which runs from 25 November to 10 December 2019.

SWAYOCO said the call for stories was open to the general public. ‘We encourage everyone to share their story especially the traditionally marginalized groups such as people living with disabilities, lesbian, bisexual and trans-identified. In as much as the campaign is focused on women, children and other vulnerable groups, men cannot be left behind because they are also victims just as they are also offenders.’

Submissions guidelines:

Stories must be written in the first person (‘I’ statements).
Submissions must be made in either Siswati or English language.
Note: Please say if you want to remain anonymous.

Submission deadline is 15 November 2019 in Word format to email swayocop@gmail.com subject line – my body my story. They can also be sent via whatsapp (+26876957762). Approved stories shall be published on SWAYOCO’s online platforms and shared with partner organizations for wider publicity.

See also

Call to declare murders of women and children in Swaziland a national emergency

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/08/call-to-declare-murders-of-women-and.html 

Rise in gender-based violence

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/12/rise-in-gender-based-violence.html 

Police in Swaziland beat 14-year-old who went to report she had been raped by her father, court told

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2019/01/police-in-swaziland-beat-14-year-old.html 

‘Dad rapes daughter to test virginity’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/05/dad-rapes-daughter-to-test-virginity.html