|
|
SWAZILAND: Fighting Gender Violence With Financial Freedom
By Mantoe Phakathi
MBABANE, Dec 8 (IPS) - When a Swazi women's rights organisation noticed that many women continue
to stay in violent relationships because they are financially dependent on their
abusive partners, they knew something had to change. They started self-help
groups that assist women in breaking away from gender-based violence (GBV)
by gaining financial muscle.
Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) helps women to start up
and run small businesses in and around the country's commercial hub of
Manzini. The organisation teaches them about bookkeeping, financial and
business management, customer care and public speaking.
As a result, about 500 women in 47 groups in and around Manzini, who used
to be trapped in abusive relationships, have gained financial - and personal
- independence.
"Many poor Swazi women are vulnerable to domestic abuse because of their
financial dependency on their husbands and boyfriends. Our self-help groups
give them the financial base they need to leave abusive relationships,"
explained Swagaa project officer Dazi Dlamini.
She said apart from mitigating financial constraints, the groups address social
issues around GBV and women's rights: "The self-help groups are not only
looking at the economic development of women. We also try to address
issues, such as domestic violence and HIV/AIDS, in our weekly meetings."
Financial independence
After setting up their businesses, the women pay part of their earnings into a
mutual savings and credit fund aimed at helping them to grow their
enterprises. From contributions as small as 20 cents per week, 500 women in
the Manzini region have generated close to $15,000 in just more than one
year, Dlamini said.
Members can borrow between $5 and $50 per month at a ten percent interest
rate from this fund, if they want to expand their businesses.
"We borrow from our savings to buy more stock, for example, and this is how
we have been able to grow our enterprises since last year," explained
Mamane Sukati (54), a member of the association in Mpembekati, three
kilometres outside of Manzini.
"We borrow for business purposes only. Unless it's a very critical matter,
members can only use the money to put it back into their enterprises, but not
to fix personal problems," she added.
Apart from each member paying $0.2 per week into the savings account, the
women make a monthly contribution of $2 towards a separate fund set up to
help pay their children's school fees. They contribute a further $0.2 a month
towards a funeral scheme for members and their families.
As a next step to generating returns on investment, SWAGAA plans to form a
number of Cluster Level Associations (CLAs), which will be made up of 15
self-help groups per community. Each CLA will pay $30 a month into yet
another savings account, which will earn extra interest on profits generated.
The self-help groups are set up in a non-hierarchical manner, with rotating
chairpersons, to ensure that all women are treated equally within the
association, said Dlamini: "We don't have an executive committee because
everyone is supposed to participate fully and in the same way. We encourage
each woman to stand up and speak, which is a way of cultivating self-
esteem."
Building self-esteem
Esther Mashaba (54), a self-help group member, says chairing a meeting was
difficult at first but now she has become used to public speaking. "Each one
of us is given a chance to moderate so that we can help one another to gain
confidence in dealing with our own business," she told IPS.
Mashaba says joining the group has helped her to improve her relationship
with her husband, a carpenter, with whom she used to fight over lack of basic
resources in the household. "My husband did not give me enough money to
buy food for the family, yet he would still demand a savoury dinner every
time he comes home in the evening. That led to arguments or fights," she
said.
But after joining the self-help group and earning money, her family situation
started to change. "I guess the financial independence has made my husband
realise the effort I'm making in providing for the family," said Mashaba. "He
now gives me a lot of support and respect."
She said she received a lot of advice and counselling from other members of
the group who advised her to speak with her husband about domestic
violence and report him to the police if he continued beating her.
"When I came here, I was full of anger, but after opening up to the members
about my problems I felt a lot better because they counselled me," she
added.
Peggy Matola (61), another self-help group member, says she cannot imagine
how she would have coped without the support of her colleagues when two
of her children died within a space of ten days. Besides emotional support
from the other women, she benefited from the funeral fund, without which,
she says, her family would have struggled to pay for the burial service.
As a next step towards ending GBV, SWAGAA is planning to include men in its
workshops on social issues that may have an impact on gender-based and
domestic violence, such as poverty, food insecurity, HIV/AIDS and gender
discrimination.
"Our goal is to sensitise entire communities about issues of gender-based
violence and abuse. We want to reach out to everyone," said Dlamini.
(END/2008)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
