Everyone reading this article must please raise the right hand if they have never struck a woman, and especially in a domestic context. Then while struggling with tapping the keys with the left hand (vice-versa for ‘lefties’), they should congratulate themselves and swear to maintain that code until their last breath on the planet.
I emphasise the focus on domestic violence against women because the bulk of gender-based violence is, very sadly, in the home against the wife/partner. That’s where the golden mantra of ‘real men do not hit women’ is especially relevant. It is, of course, to be contrasted with where you are assaulted by some vicious and burly female with a decade of professional kickboxing under (and over) the belt. In that situation, you are fully entitled to respond with as much of the same as you can manage. Perhaps, avoid that kind of person in the first place.
In Eswatini, it is undeniable that there exists far too much gender-based violence in the domestic context. It seems to be partly systemic with insufficient outlawing of it to the extent that the code of a First World country would demand, where abusers of women through sexual and other violence are publicly shamed at the very least. The legislation is in place to improve the security for our women in Eswatini, but it would be good to see periodic data on the degree of improvement being achieved. Bearing in mind, of course, that a significant degree of violence goes unreported; hushed up to preserve a family’s dignity and reputation. The usual excuse is that ‘it takes two to tango,’ implying that violence arises from extreme provocation. Each case has to be judged on its merits, but rarely can violence be condoned.
Gender-based violence known as GBV is, very sadly, a global malady. Around 30 per cent of women have been survivor of it during a lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner. That reflects very badly on men. Sometimes, it’s embedded in the local culture, entrenched in traditional attitudes, with weak legislative support or poor enforcement of protective laws.
The size of the population of the most highly populated country in the world – India – is matched only by the extent of poverty and the violence against women. Their position in society deteriorated early in India’s ancient period. British colonial rule introduced legislation to reduce the violence against women. The enactment of the Female Infanticide Prevention Act in 1870 is a reflection of how bad the situation was at one time. Women’s rights under the Constitution of India, today, include equality, dignity and freedom from discrimination. It has various statutes to support that, but still the headlines capture a great deal of unpunished violence – usually sexually oriented – against women.
As in Eswatini, much has been done to implement gender equality in India. They’ve even had a president and prime minister. Still, there remains the underlying attitude of female inferiority, with malnutrition very high among adolescent girls and pregnant and breastfeeding women, with all the negative implications for the offspring.
Also, 33 per cent of women faced domestic violence from their partners in a mere two-year period between 2019 and 2021, according to a recent study. It does, of course, vary across regions, but in the southern State of Karnataka that figure was 48 per cent. That’s one in two women experiencing violence in the home, in a recent period of only two years.
India will never be able to claim First World status while it carries the disgrace from such statistics. The same principle applies to Eswatini, where a World Health Organisation (WHO) survey in 2022-23 found that around 40 per cent of women reported intimate partner violence, though it will not have been over such a short two-year period. Nevertheless, it does not fit comfortably with the concept of love for the survivor, who is usually the intimate partner.
Somewhat curiously, a significant improvement in male attitudes in India may be emerging through the sport that is cricket; one not well known in Eswatini. A marvellous sport, but some say it’s as exciting as watching paint dry. The late, but entertaining humourist, Robin Williams, once said: ‘‘Cricket is baseball on Valium’’ (that’s a tranquillising drug). Hundreds of millions of people living in India would indignantly reject that comment. Former England cricket Captain, Alec Stewart, once said: ‘‘Facing a fast bowler is like standing in the outside lane of a very busy motorway and when the car (driving at 160 kph) gets 20 metres away (the length of a cricket pitch) you try to get out of its way.”
Every family in India – that’s 1.4 billion people – watches the cricket. They are crazy about the sport and everyone, including the men, went ballistic when the women’s national team won the World Cup this month. Millions took to the streets in celebration. Forty years ago, for men that time, the sport went ‘from a casual pastime to a national obsession.’ The same could happen to the women from cricket and that can only be to their advantage on the status side of life generally, through a sport that’s so deeply embedded in daily life in India. Their pay in cricket has gone up hugely, though still well below men, but they’re getting endorsement deals. Cricket can’t work miracles for women, but it should have some impact. More attention and resources allocated to Eswatini women’s football might have a similar effect.
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