SHOCKER: 41 312 GBV CASES IN 4 YEARS

MBABANE – Between 2015 and 2018, reported gender-based violence (GBV) cases accumulated to a shocking 41 312.

The statistic is contained in a letter that was sent to both the prime minister and the deputy prime minister’s offices by a consortium of at least nine women and civil society organisations.
Dated November 2, 2023, the letter stipulates that between 2015 and 2019, the total number of annual sexual offences and domestic violence (SODV) cases reportedly increased by 289 per cent. The consortium revealed in the letter that data from the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) included in the report of the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration on implementing the SODV Act indicated a steady increase in report of GBV cases. In 2015, there were 8 067 cases of GBV, 9 102 in 2016, 11 081 in 2017 and 13 062 in 2018 as detailed in the letter.

Consortium

The consortium is made of such organisations as the Coordination Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO), Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAAGA), Liphimbo Labomake, Women Unlimited, Kwakha Indvodza, MenEngage, 1 Billion Rising Solidarity, African Women’s Peace and Development Foundation (AWPDF) and others.
Through the letter, the consortium revealed that they acknowledged the efforts to address GBV that had been made in recent years by government, NGOs, civil society, faith-based leaders, private sector and individuals, but the levels of violence had not been reduced.

Denying

“There can be no denying the pervasiveness of gender-based violence in Eswatini and its devastating effects on individuals, families, communities and the nation at large. On a daily basis there are reports of increasingly gruesome acts of GBV and we, as a country, simply cannot afford to continue a ‘business as usual’ approach to dealing with it,” reads the letter. The consortium shared their concern that instead of being reduced, the GBV cases had continued and seemed to be increasing as evidenced by alarming statistics. They asserted that while all were affected by GBV, the reality was that women and children were facing the brunt of this scourge. “For instance, one in five cases reported are of sexual violence, a rate that is higher than anywhere else in SADC. There are also growing number of femicides – these killings of women of all ages, from all walks of life, is creating an environment of fear and insecurity amongst women throughout the country,” reads the letter.

The consortium, whose Chairpersonis SWAAGA Director Nonhlanhla Dlamini, is calling for government to declare GBV as a national emergency. Some of the reasons for that, as detailed in the letter, is that SWAAGA revealed that cases increased by more than 100 per cent during the COVID-19 period. At some point, it was reported that more than 320 new cases were reported and over 900 calls on the toll-free line were received on a weekly basis. The letter depicts that, notably, in the Shiselweni Region, 15 women had been killed as a result of GBV within the first three months of 2022. “Findings from the 2014 Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) indicated that among children (girls and boys) of less than 15 years, 80 per cent have experienced emotional aggression and physical violence. In addition, 50 per cent of girls have experienced sexual violence. Alarmingly, violence occurs in places that children considered as ‘safe spaces’. Workers are frequently absent, distracted and unable to fully focus on their jobs.”

Figures

“Taking cognisance of the fact that only one in seven GBV cases are reported, these figures are truly alarming,” reads the letter.  The consortium revealed that it was so important the country remembers that behind the statistics and other data were actual human beings. They revealed that these were people with hopes and dreams, whose experience of GBV violated their rights to security, bodily autonomy, physical and mental health and in the worst cases, life. They asserted that GBV was having a devastating impact, not only on the individuals who were violated but also on their families, communities and wider Eswatini society. “Every woman that dies in the increasing femicide we are witnessing signifies the loss of a grandmother, mother, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend, a colleague e.t.c and the irreparable harm that results to those left behind,” reads the letter.

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