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RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Deadly Abuse-AIDS-Gender Rights Equation
By James Hall
MBABANE, Dec 3 (IPS) - A deadly equation is gradually being understood in
the socially conservative society of Swaziland: that sexual abuse
contributes significantly to the spread of HIV, and is rooted in a lack of
women's rights.
‘'For a country with traditional values, there seems to be a lot of
incest and spousal abuse here. As for AIDS, Swaziland has one of the highest
HIV infection rates in the world,'' says Agnes Kunene, a nurse in the
commercial hub Manzini.
The abuse-AIDS-gender rights equation grew more deadly with leaked
government figures this week on HIV, which sources in the health ministry
told IPS will soon be officially proclaimed. The latest data shows that more
than 38 percent of adult Swazis are HIV-positive. This would put the country
ahead of Botswana as leading the epidemic in Africa.
‘'Women are considered minors throughout their lives,'' says Mbabane
businesswoman Martha Simelane. ‘'Even me, I own a business and I am the
breadwinner in our house, but I cannot obtain a bank loan or enter into a
contract without my husband's permission. This attitude that women are
under the authority of men also makes sex unequal. Women are expected to
comply with men's desires.''
Swazi women hope to find some empowerment when King Mswati decrees a new
constitution next year, although the monarch has indicated its contents will
be consistent with age-old Swazi customs.
Until then, the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) has noted
that men accused in criminal cases of rape and incest continue to defend
themselves by saying they are following ‘'God's way'', as one defendant
testified, to do with women as they like.
‘'Incest and sexual abuse are key contributors to the spread of AIDS in
Swaziland,'' asserts Alan Brody, national representative for the United
Nation's children's welfare organisation UNICEF.
SWAGAA, which counsels victims of rape and other abuse and assists women
with medical and legal aid, notes the cycle that begins with women's lack of
legal and social equality and which ends in AIDS is rooted in the country's
polygamous customs.
‘'A man who is unfaithful to one wife and who acquires HIV from a
girlfriend or a prostitute and then passes it on to his wife dooms two
people. But an unfaithful husband in a polygamous marriage can infect three,
four or more other people. Unfortunately, there are as many unfaithful men
who are polygamists as husbands with only one wife,'' says Sindile Mcanyana
of SWAGAA.
Women and Law in Southern Africa's Swaziland branch has also noted the
link between the lack of women's rights and the spread of HIV. By mounting
legal challenges in the courts to secure the former, the organisation hopes
to reduce the latter.
‘'We have had some successes with incest cases,'' says Zakhe Hlanze, the
group's research assistant. ‘'Some fathers defended the rape of their
daughters by saying this was Swazi custom. We did extensive research with
traditional authorities, and our belief that no such custom ever existed was
verified.''
Hlanze also says Swazi courts are showing fewer leniencies toward rapists
and more sympathy toward women who are raped and abused. SWAAGA has
undertaken a training and sensitising programme with the Royal Swaziland
Police Force, which partly explains the rise in arrests of rapists and
sexual abusers.
‘'The other factor is people are now reporting these crimes. Women are
coming forward for treatment and counselling. Before, it was just pointless,
'' according to Hlanze.
But one mother of a 12-year-old daughter who was raped said, ‘'I went to
report to the police station, but they were not interested. Only when I came
back with someone from SWAAGA did they take my problem seriously.''
Both SWAAGA and Women in Law feel one solution to AIDS amongst teenage
and young adult women was undercut after King Mswati violated, by his own
admission, a revival of chastity rules for unmarried girls that he had put
in place last year.
‘'The king should not have taken a 17-year-old girl as his ninth wife
last year,'' says nurse Kunene.
‘'He was setting the wrong message,'' agrees SWAAGA's Mcanyana.
This year, Mswati spotted three teenage girls participating in the maiden
's Reed Dance, and palace aides picked them up from school to join the royal
household as wives ten, eleven and twelve. (The king's father at Mswati's
present age had four wives, and would eventually have over 115, according to
historian J.S.M. Matsebula.)
The mother of one of the girls made international headlines by taking the
palace aides to court on charges of abduction. But she found that fighting
the palace in sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy was an exercise in
futility.
‘'That case did draw a lot of attention to the lack of women's rights in
Swaziland,'' says Mcanyana.
An ad hoc Gender Rights Coalition attended court sessions when the mother
's case was heard, and has subsequently vowed to press parliament for gender
empowerment legislation.
‘'Because gender rights, including reproductive rights when a woman has a
say in bearing children, are tied to health issues like the spread of
HIV/AIDS, the need to do away with women's traditional subservient role is
critical. In fact, with HIV as high as it is in Swaziland, this has become
a matter of life and death,'' an attorney with Women in Law said.
(END/2002)
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