Swaziland MP calls for arrest of pregnant teenagers so they can be ‘corrected’

A member of parliament in Swaziland / eSwatini Michael Masuku called for teenagers who become pregnant to be arrested so they can be corrected and learn from their mistakes.

The Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said that it was crucial to evaluate if the teenagers fell pregnant willingly or were abused, before considering enacting a law that would criminalise teenage pregnancy.

The submission was made at a workshop of members of parliament.

The Times of Swaziland reported Michael Masuku said, ‘Teenage pregnancy should be a punishable offence to reduce its escalating rate in the country.’

It added, ‘Masuku suggested that there should be a law that stipulates an age when girls who are found pregnant should be arrested for a year so that they may be corrected and learn from their mistakes. 

‘The MP said teenage pregnancy should be made a punishable offence, just like offences under the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act.’

The newspaper added, ‘In this way, the MP stated that minor girls would refrain from having early sexual intercourse, which ultimately led to pregnancies and school dropouts.’

The Times reported, ‘Responding, DPM Themba Masuku highlighted that it was crucial to evaluate if the teenagers fell pregnant willingly or were abused, before considering enacting a law that would criminalise teenage pregnancy.’

In Swaziland, the law states that the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 18. The SODV that came into effect in 2018 makes it a crime to have sex with someone under that age. It states that a person under 18 is ‘incapable in law of appreciating the nature of the sexual act’.

Therefore, in law, the criminal in such cases is the man and not the woman.

Teenage pregnancy in Swaziland has been a concern for many years. The Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Youth Affairs in the Swaziland State of the Youth Report 2015, stated that in 2007, teenage pregnancy was at 24 percent and over the years it has not shown much decline despite attempts at education and other  interventions. 

The report stated, ‘Pregnancy among girls less than 18 years of age has a number of negative consequences. It violates the rights of girls and can pose life-threatening consequences.’

It added, ‘Early pregnancy can have lasting negative effects in terms of sexual and reproductive health for young women and it poses high development costs for communities, particularly in perpetuating the cycle of poverty.’

In 2014, 16.7 percent of women between 20-24 had at least one live birth before 18 years of age.’

Young people in Swaziland begin engaging in sexual activity at an early age. The average age at first intercourse in Swaziland is 16 years for girls and 18 years for boys. Delaying first sexual intercourse is strongly linked with more years of education in young women, and a reduced risk to HIV exposure and early pregnancy. 

The MPs workshop was told that 1,046 girls had dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy. The DPM’s Office presently has a campaign to reduce pre-teen, teenage and post-teenage pregnancies by 50 per cent by 2023.

See also

School criticised for pregnancy tests

https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2018/01/school-criticised-for-pregnancy-tests.html

Schoolgirls ‘give sex for food’

https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/schoolgirls-give-sex-for-food.html

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

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

 

Campaigners in Swaziland / eSwatini want the increase in murders of women and children to be declared a national emergency. 

The number of victims is increasing and ‘has reached alarming proportions’, they say.

People from across all sectors of civil society marched through Manzini, the main commercial city of Swaziland / eSwatini, to draw attention to killing of women and children in the kingdom.

It was organised by Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) and included participants from the Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC), Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), World Vision, Kwakha Indvodza (KI), Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), Swaziland Union of Students (SNUS), Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA), SOS Children’s Village and Coalition of Informal Economy Associations of Swaziland (CIEAS).

In a statement WLSA said, ‘This march was triggered by the fact that over the past few months, we have been reading reports of women and children being murdered by their husbands/partners and fathers, respectively.  With the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act having been passed into law, the question on many people’s minds is why the violence and killings are continuing despite the harsh sentences that the Act prescribes.

‘It would appear that the violence is increasing rather than decreasing and this trend is worrying to say the least. Many are placing the blame of the “increase” on the enactment of the SODV Act, though they are unable to explain why they arrive at this supposition.’

It added, ‘The prevalence of violence has reached alarming proportions and the country needs to declare it an emergency. Perhaps there is a need to address it in the same manner as the HIV pandemic was addressed, and design programmes specifically for this. Resources should be availed to drive the programmes for their effectiveness.’

WLSA added, ‘There is a very alarming component to the latest murders that people seem not to notice. These killings are not carried out in impulse or in the heat of the moment; what could be called crimes of passion. The latest killings have been premeditated by the perpetrator; this is evident from the choice of weapon that the perpetrator uses. The use of guns, poison and even drowning shows that there was some planning that took place before the crime was committed. So we then come back to the question of why the perpetrator opted for murder than another solution.

‘This question is particularly relevant when taking into account that some of these murders are committed in the presence of other people, with no attempt to hide the evidence or to evade prosecution.’

The call for action echoes one made by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in September 2018. It said it would support the kingdom’s government and make gender-based violence (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.

In December 2018 Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku said, ‘Government recognises the need to eradicate violence especially gender-based Violence at all levels for better quality of life for the country. GBV calls for political commitment from the policy makers, executive and the judiciary.’

Photograph of the march sourced from Facebook

See also

Rise in gender-based violence

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