SODV ACT: ABDUCTION WITH INTENT TO MARRY NO OFFENCE

MBABANE – Abducting a child with an intention to marry or enable someone else to marry her is not an offence.

The proposed offence of abducting a child with the intention of marrying them has not been included in the new Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, 2018.
When it was still a Bill, Clause 42 (1) (a) defined abduction as, ‘unlawfully taking a child out of the control of the custodian of that child or a person in charge of that child with the intention of marrying or enabling someone else to marry that child’.

In the new Act, the whole sub-section does not exist but instead the focus is on intentions of performing sexual acts, harmful rituals or any other unlawful purpose.
It is further stipulated that a person who committed the act of abduction, as defined as abduction, committed an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a term not exceeding 15 years imprisonment.

Worth noting is that the Bill had actually included a fine not exceeding E50 000. Also, if the new Act is anything to go by, then a man who does what is known as acceptable courting will not be accused of unlawful stalking. The dictionary defines courting as an act of seeking the affections of someone (usually a woman), with the hope of being romantically involved with them.

The Act provides clearly that for the removal of doubt, unlawful stalking does not include an act of acceptable courting.
Worth noting is that while it was still a Bill, there was no mention of such. While it was being debated in Parliament, especially at Senate, an issue was raised that it was going to be a challenge for men when they courted women, which most legislators said was part of Eswatini culture.

Stakeholders, especially civic society groups, argued that there was a need to protect people, especially women, against situations where men continued to court them even after they had specified that they were not interested.
In its interpretations, the new Act provides that notwithstanding any other law, a child means a person under the age of 18 years.

When the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) was contacted yesterday, it stated that the addition was more than welcome as there were instances where people being courted found themselves in an uncomfortable position especially after they had indicated that they were not interested.
Communications and Advocacy Officer Slindelo Nxumalo stated that the clause happened to be one of the most debated where it was repeatedly redefined for better understanding.

“You will recall that from ‘stalking’ it was changed to ‘unlawful stalking’ to further explain the dangers and effects of such an offence. It was misunderstood and misinterpreted for courting yet there is a huge difference between the two,” she said.

Nxumalo said to reach a consensus, it was finally agreed that the clause should be ‘unlawful stalking’ and that it should be  applied whenever one felt threatened or uncomfortable by being followed, called, or was flooded with unwanted romantic advances (kusonywa).

Elaborating, Nxumalo said there was a need to understand that in today’s world, people were not afraid to firmly turn down love proposals, but that there were those who did not accept rejection and ended up taking extreme measures of getting the other party’s attention, which she said was then defined as unlawful stalking.
“These types of acts usually lead to several cases of violence including kidnapping, rape and murder,” said Nkosi.

She said her organisation was happy that the whole clause was maintained as a criminal offence and that the additional sentences were a positive sign  that the outgoing legislators understood the uncontrollable levels of violence  occurring in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

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