Swaziland: Voices silenced and solidarity stifled

Siphofaneni, 10 June: Members of the Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA) along with gender activists in Swaziland and beyond are still reeling in shock after the Royal Swaziland Police Service (RSPS) effectively silenced activists and shut down a peaceful women’s solidarity march that the SRWA organised on 29 May.

SRWA organised the march in response to a recent case, where a man stripped naked the mother of his child, assaulted her, and with a knife to her back, dragged her by her hair for three kilometres, through surrounding communities and across the busy MR103 highway, to his uncles homestead.

SRWA’s founder and chairperson, Sebenzile Nxumalo explained that the march was organised to show support for all victims of gender-based violence (GBV), raise awareness about violence against women and to encourage members of the community to condemn these inhumane acts. “What we seek to do as an organisation is to mobilise women. We want to amplify the voices of rural women so that they get empowered to speak out and stand up.”

According to a joint statement made by SRWA and the Foundation for Socio Economic Justice – Swaziland (FSEJ), the RSPS stopped the march by mounting a roadblock where activists were convening. After dispersing over 100 women, the police followed organisers for two hours, to ensure they did not re-convene. Other supporters, who met at the bus rank in Siphofanenei to get transport home, were intimidated and insulted by a mini bus full of police who followed them to the rank.

“Who is supposed to protect the women of Swaziland, when wanting to raise awareness against such atrocities is met with hostility? That woman still feels alone and silenced but this is not because we were silent but because women who stood in solidarity with her were not allowed to speak on her behalf,” read the statement.

Members of SRWA and the women who joined the march returned home traumatised, feeling unprotected by the police. They felt hopeless and had lost faith in the police’s domestic violence unit – the very institution that women go to report GBV and domestic violence.

Although the Regional Station Commander summoned Nxumalo to the Siphofaneni Police Station the next day to apologise for the actions of the Siphofaneni Police, Nxumalo said it was too late and unhelpful. The police’s hostility had already sent the wrong message to citizens, discouraging them from speaking out against GBV.

There is already a culture of silence in Swaziland, where talking about GBV and domestic issues is seen as a threat to a family’s name. “We still live in a country where our society is not free to continue talking about women’s safety. It is very taboo to talk about it and you are seen as a person shaming the family when you speak out,” Nxumalo said.

Nxumalo also explained that most rural women do not understand the role of the police in domestic violence, few women report GBV, many cases are withdrawn and most perpetrators are not brought to book. She emphasised the important role that the police’s domestic violence unit should play in ending GBV. The unit must show solidarity with communities and conduct outreach programmes within rural women to inform them about their rights and encourage more women to break the silence and report GBV.

The RSPS’s actions have garnered condemnation from gender organisations from all over the SADC region. Sara Longwe, a consultant on gender and development in Zambia, condemned the “misogynistic” acts perpetrated by the abuser and Swazi police. “The answer is for us all to continue speaking up against the acts and denouncing the action by the Swaziland Government for not disciplining the police involved or arresting the abuser,” said Longwe.

Longwe also urged fellow gender activists from across the region to present a petition at the upcoming SADC Heads of States Summit in August, in order to put pressure on governments to make a more concerted effort to end GBV.

The continuing violence perpetrated against women is heinous enough. What it is more disheartening is when the state silences citizens who stand up and speak out against inhumanity and indignity, instead of protecting them.

The police and the state must not muffle our voices or stifle our solidarity. Women and men should continue to speak out, fight GBV and demand that government and police deliver and defend women’s rights and access to justice.

Nkosingphile Myeni is a freelance journalist in Swaziland. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service that provides fresh views on everyday news.