The Kingdom of Gender-Based Violence: Case Study of eSwatini

Mahatma Gandhi said, “”Poverty is the worst kind of violence”. In the materials we have studied over the last six weeks, it has become apparent that disenfranchisement leads to violence because the power of a few leads to domination over others. I do not agree that violence is natural, or even part of the human condition, when so much of the wonderful things in life are centred on love and compassion. Women experience violence because they are disenfranchised, because they are seen as possessions rather than people, and because they face the brunt of poverty and emotional labour. Gender-based violence has been called a pandemic, and is indiscriminately present in every society in the world. This is due to enduring gender norms that stipulate that men are the providers and leaders of society, while women are possessions. It is also due to war and conflict, with sexual violence used as a tactic of war. It is also due to poverty and the disenfranchisement of women as equal members in society. Wherever there is extreme disparity in gender roles, there are high rates of gender-based violence. 

In eSwatini, the small, landlocked nation in which I live, gender-based violence is an epidemic. According to the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), 1 in 3 girls is Swaziland is subject to gender-based violence in the form of rape before age of 18. Almost 48% of women report some sexual violence being inflicted upon them. The country also experiences a relatively high rate of child marriages, with 5% of girls being married before the age of 18. A report for All Africa stated that after the passing of the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act of 2018, “A total of 2,068 cases of domestic violence were [reported from] August 2018 to March 2019” in a country with 1.2 million people. The realities here for women are often stark, particularly in rural communities. Many women live in poverty and are dependent upon subsistence farming (CEDAW report eSwatini). Data on intimate partner violence is not known, most likely as it is not reported on with any consistency.This poverty, combined with high rates of rape, physical violence, and emotional and psychological abuse, has left the women of eSwatini beaten and enraged. Women represent a fraction of economic wealth and land ownership, and the disparity enables them to become victims of gender-based violence. 

eSwatini is the last remaining absolute monarchy in Africa. While progressive laws have been passed, including the SODV act, the national gender policy and a 2019 law that decreed men could not solely make the decisions in a household, cultural norms do not reinforce this legislation, and much of this has to do with King Mswati III, the reigning monarch. While Mswati might approve these laws in theory, he does not practice what he preaches. The king is infamously polygamous, and at the age of 52, he has sixteen wives, some of whom are as young as 18. In addition, many of these marriages are coerced. In 2002, Zehna Mahlangu was kidnapped by the royal family. While the charges pressed against the king by Mahlangu’s mother were subsequently dropped, the allegation was made that the king had chosen her and kidnapped her against her wishes (BBC News). In addition to this, the king also practices a traditional law which only requires him to marry women who he gets pregnant. All Africa reports again that he keeps concubines in addition to his wives. In 2002, King Mswati, in an attempt to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic, instigated a traditional chastity period in the country, which was supposed to last for five years. The king, then in his 30s, broke the law with a seventeen-year-old girl, who later became his fiancee. With such an example in the country of unchecked violence against women, how can the country alter its gender norms? 

In addition to the king’s example, there are many cultural practices in eSwatini which reinforce damaging gender norms and lead to gender-based violence. One such practice is the controversial Umhlanga or Reed Dance, which is an annual event in which maidens in eSwatini dance bare-breasted for the king and other attendees. While the dance is sometimes lauded as a cultural practice, it faces harsh criticism from others for its objectifying nature. Furthermore, while participation is supposedly voluntary, women are either bribed into attendance through the promise of money or their families are punished with a fine if they do not attend. Other, formal legislation also enforces gender-based violence. In 2012, King Mswati banned mini-skirts, low-rise jeans and crop-tops in the country (Times Swaziland) as he believed such clothing was causing the high rates of gender-based violence and rape in the country. By putting the blame of gender-based violence on women through legislation, the King sent a dangerous message to the men in the community, condoning rape if the victim was percieved to have deserved it. 

eSwatini is plagued by many difficulties, but public perception of gender is changing, largely in part due to the progressive laws such as the SODV act which raised the age of consent to 18 and banned marital rape. The UN Population Fund has been working alongside NGOs such as SWAGAA to curb the widespread rates with strong action, such as training 166 community health members in gender-based violence issues (UNFPA), but unfortunately, COVID-19 has undone a lot of that good work. Headlines in the newspapers from recent months have been recounting more rapes and child marriages as women are trapped with abusers and girls are kept home from school. In addition, the most successful interventions are school-based, and with COVID-19, this access has now shut down. As an educator working online during COVID in eSwatini, I have tried to keep the momentum going for the discussions surrounding how we can engage all genders to combat gender-based violence, but the struggle is long, as cultural norms take a long time to change. As Nathalie Daries, head of UNICEF in eSwatini stated in a recent interview, “it could be 30 years before we see the change in rates of gender-based violence” (Interview). With all these sobering facts, it is hard to retain optimism, but the public perception is changing. When King Mswati broke his own chastity vow, protesters gathered in the streets. Since the passing of SODV, more rapes have been prosecuted and fewer child marriages have taken place (SWAGAA Report). Violence against women no longer seems an inevitability in this beautiful but damaged country.