UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 9) Since the last review, Eswatini has enacted several legislations that domesticate the various human rights conventions ratified by the country. Some of the enacted legislations include inter alia: - the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2018,
Para 10) Further, Eswatini has made progress in developing sector policies guiding the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights as well as improving the livelihoods of Emaswati. These include National Gender Policy, Education and Training Sector Policy 2018 …
Para 35) The Kingdom of Eswatini has undertaken various approaches and strategies towards ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls. Women and girls are discriminated in many ways often disguised as tradition, customs as well as patriarchal norms and values which society has held on to in the name of indigenous culture (way of life).
Para 36) The Kingdom enacted the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act No. 15 of 2018. This Act makes provision concerning sexual offences and domestic violence, prevention and the protection of all persons from harm and acts of domestic violence amongst others. It serves as deterrent to a lot of discrimination, exploitation and mainly violence against women and girls who are considered as the most vulnerable groups of society. Regulations have been recently developed to facilitate holistic implementation of the SODV Act which include the establishment of specific institutions to further enhance the protection of women and children.
Para 37) During the period under review, Government has developed and is implementing a National Strategy and Action Plan to End Violence (2017-2022). This undertaking was in response to the realization of the lack of a multisectoral framework that will guide the prevention and response agenda to violence in the country. This framework has been very instrumental in the programming for prevention, social and behavioural change as well as protection of all vulnerable groups from violence. As such, this has seen the advancement of the Male involvement agenda being formed into a Men Engage Network to engage men and boys on gender equality, prevention of violence and abuse in all settings. There are Non Governmental Organisations like Kwakha Indvodza (KI), Swatini Action Group against Abuse (SWAGAA) among others that are leading these initiatives to eliminate violence in our societies.
Para 38) Eswatini has further developed a National Strategy and Plan of Action on Positive Parenting (2019-2023) currently at advanced stage of endorsement. The plan provides a blueprint and national roadmap towards achieving holistic child development through empowering and supporting parents to discharge their parenting roles. This plan seeks to instil principles that discourage violence and promote positive discipline, to assist eliminate all forms of violence including those appearing as child discipline.
Para 39) The National Gender Policy 2010 has been reviewed to align it with the Beijing declaration and Platform for Action as well as other regional and international frameworks. This policy will guide gender mainstreaming strategies for the next 10 years (2020–2030). However, due to the COVID 19 pandemic disruptions, it is yet to be implemented and integrated into national budgets.
Para 40) Eswatini has continued to invest in women driven economic empowerment initiatives, with the leadership from government’s strategic roadmap 2019–2023. A case in point is E100 million has been used to establish the Women’s Business Hub in Manzini.
Para 41) The Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise (SMME) Policy 2018 and the Eswatini National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2017-2022) have been adopted to contribute to poverty alleviation by enabling alternative channels to serve the poor.
Para 42) The major aim of the Financial Inclusion Strategy is to ensure the “delivery of financial services and products in ways that are available, accessible and affordable to all segments” of the country’s populace. The target is to grow adult access from 43% to 75% and reduce the excluded from 27% to 15% by 2022. The target will be achieved by expanding mobile money services (e-money) increasing usage of banks, reducing risks in management of financial services and devising alternative ways of serving the poor. Further, it targets the un-served or underserved in rural areas; women and youth; Micro, Small & Medium Entrepreneurs including in the agriculture sector. The Strategy will facilitate the participation of Women and Youth Entrepreneurs in economic activities, particularly women in the Informal sector who often lack access to credit for business start-ups and growth. Studies reveal that the Informal sector provides employment to 40.2 percent women compared to 25.5 percent men.
Para 43) Further, the country has developed a Citizens Economic Empowerment Bill 2021 to enable equal participation of women and men in economic transformation. The Bill seeks to, among other issues, “promote gender equality in accessing, owning, managing, controlling and exploiting economic resources”.
Para 44) The Government of Eswatini has established the Federation of National Associations of women in business in Eastern and Southern Africa (FEMCOM) along with a strategic plan of 2018-2022. FEMCOM is responsible for facilitating economic empowerment of women and youth entrepreneurs. Its mandate is to promote programmes, which integrate women into trade and development activities in various business fields, thus contributing to national development and the promotion of vision 2022.
Para 45) In 2020, the Government launched 50 Million African Women’s Speak digital Platform. To contribute to the economic empowerment of women through the provision of a networking platform that will enable women in business to access information and financial services. Specifically, the objective is to establish a platform to improve the ability of women entrepreneurs to network and share information as well as to access information on financial and non-financial services.
Para 48) With regards to representation of women in politics, Eswatini enacted the Election of Women Members into the House of Assembly Act No. 06 of 2018 to ensure that at least 30% of women constitute the House of Assembly, thereby giving effect to section 86 of the Constitution. However, this target has not been met as currently, women legislators constitute 20.38% of the legislators, and 29% at Cabinet.
Para 49) There are still barriers that hinder women’s ability to be elected or appointed into decision making positions such as patriarchy, economic disadvantages, social stereotypes, and socio-political perceptions around women’s leadership. As a mitigating measure, Eswatini is developing a National Strategy on women’s participation in politics and decision-making. This strategy seeks to address barriers to women’s participation.
Para 50) The Elections and Boundaries Commission conducts Civic Voter education to sensitize members of the public on the electoral process before elections. Further Civil Society Organisations conduct educational vote for women campaigns to ensure women’s participation in politics and decision-making structures. Women candidates and nominees are capacitated on leadership and campaigning skills prior to Secondary Elections.
Para 51) The Constitution protects women and girls from being forced to contract marriages without their consent and being subjected to customs they are opposed to in conscience. Therefore, customary practices of kungenwa, kwendziswa and others are no longer practised against the free and full consent of the intending spouses. At a Customary marriage ceremony, the presence of a Chief’s representative plays an important role of witnessing the proceedings of the ceremony including if the woman is a consenting party to the marriage.
Para 52) With regards to the fixed legal age to marry, the country is reviewing the Marriage Act of 1964 which will fix the marriageable age to 18 for both males and females. A draft Marriages Bill is currently undergoing legislative processes.
Para 53) There are on-going community dialogues, sensitisation campaigns, media advocacy on the adherence to laws protecting children, in particular the girl child, against harmful practices that hinder their full development. Where there are suspected reported cases of child marriages, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister attends to the cases and as a result several children have been removed from forced marriages and cases referred to the criminal justice system for investigations and prosecution.
Para 85) With regards to Persons with Albinism (PWA), Eswatini has designed and is implementing programs to support PWA, which include amongst others community dialogues to change the stereotypical negative thinking and myths about PWA as well as protecting them from harmful practices.
Para 89) Further, the general principles of criminal and statutory law apply with same effect in cases of harmful practices such as ritual killings, “mercy killings”, mutilations, trafficking of organs and body parts, infanticide, or premeditated killing of PWA. During trial the Court considers crimes committed against PWD as aggravated, in particular if there is proof that the victim lived with disabilities.
Para 112) The enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, 2018 and the development of regulations for the implementation of the act: This legislation aims to address the high rates of sexual and gender-based violence in the Kingdom. It makes provision concerning sexual offences and domestic violence, prevention and the protection of all persons from harm and acts of domestic violence amongst others. The development of Regulations is to realise the holistic implementation of the SODV Act which include the establishment of specific institutions aimed at providing protection for the most vulnerable groups such as women and children.
114) Despite the progress made, Eswatini continues to experience a number of challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights. Some of the notable challenges include: • High number of gender-based violence cases disproportionately affecting women and girls; approximately 1 in 3 females having experienced some form of sexual abuse by age of 18 years and 48% of women reporting to have experienced some form of sexual violence in their life time. This is despite the policies and legislation enacted to address this scourge.

UN Compilation:
Para 11) The United Nations country team indicated that, although Eswatini had supported six recommendations regarding the protection of persons with albinism during its second universal periodic review, those persons continued to face discrimination and violence, including killings and murders for ritual purposes. The country team regretted that Eswatini had not yet accepted the request of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism to visit the country.
Para 52) The HR Committee was concerned about reports of widespread violence against women and children, in particular pervasive sexual violence, including rape and marital rape, and that relevant officials lacked specific training on gender-based violence. It was also concerned that the national strategy and action plan to end violence for the period 2013–2018 had not yet been implemented.
Para 53) In its replies to the CRC Eswatini stated that, according to the 2016 study on violence against children, nearly three quarters of children experienced routine violence in the form of violent discipline. Over a third of all girls reported experiencing some form of sexual violence during childhood. Nearly 3 in 10 girls reported experiencing emotional violence during childhood, mostly from family members.
Para 55) The United Nations country office in Eswatini indicated that the State had made significant strides in addressing gender inequalities. However, pervasive structural disparities, deep-rooted harmful gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes had led to gender inequalities that disadvantaged women, while the country’s dual legal system – which was based on a constitutional legal framework and traditional and customary laws – provided women and girls with limited protection.
Para 56) The HR Committee noted with concern that several domestic laws contained discriminatory provisions towards women, such as the Marriage Act, and chapter 4 of the Constitution, which differentiated between men and women in the acquisition and transfer of citizenship. The Committee was also concerned that customary law and practices perpetuated inequality between men and women, in particular with regard to inheritance and property rights, and that cultural practices such as polygamy, forced marriage and bride inheritance continued to exist. The lack of equal representation of women in the public and private sectors, in particular in decision-making positions, was also a matter of concern.
Para 58) While the United Nations country team welcomed the Employment Act, which provided equal pay for equal work, it regretted that women’s participation and representation in politics and positions of influence remained a major challenge. In particular, the country team indicated that women’s representation in parliament still failed to meet the target of 30 per cent as provided for in the Constitution.
Para 59) The United Nations country team noted with satisfaction that, in 2018, Eswatini had passed the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act into law, and welcomed the strategy, plan of action and guidelines to address gender-based violence. However, the country team regretted the lack of resources for their full implementation. In particular, the country team noted that the Department of Gender and Family Issues remained challenged in terms of human resources and financial resources, and weak coordination of gender issues in the country.
Para 61) The United Nations country team was concerned about high levels of sexual violence during childhood, with an estimated one in three girls experiencing some form of sexual violence before the age of 18. The country team regretted that, despite the legislative measures taken, the weak government coordination in the area of child protection impeded effective and scaled response.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 58) HRW was concerned at the high rates of gender-based violence and that women and girls, especially those living in rural areas under traditional leaders and governed by highly patriarchal Swazi law and custom, were often subjected to discrimination and harmful practices such as the “inhlanti” and “kwendzisa”, and “kungenwa”. According to some stakeholders, married women remain “perpetual minors” and are subject to their husbands, who make key decisions for them as their “guardians.” Young women are forced to take part in highly-stereotyped cultural activities and may be punished or fined by traditional leaders if they resist.
Para 59) Several stakeholders also noted with concern that, according to statistics available, 1 in 3 women in Eswatini experienced some form of sexual violence by the time they were 18 and almost one in 2 women experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, with boyfriends and husbands being the most frequent perpetrators. Only 3% of these incidents are reported to the police, only 7% of victims have access to counselling services, and 2.1% utilize a clinic or hospital.
Para 60) According to JS10 and HKCIJ, the prevalence of gender-based violence increased with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and domestic violence increased during the lockdowns.
Para 63) While noticing that Eswatini had progress in combatting child marriages and as a result it had one of the lowest rates of child marriages in Africa, ECLJ was concerned that this practice was still high in certain parts of the country such as Lubombo and Hhohho.
Para 66) In HKCIJ’s opinion, the ongoing prevalence and acceptance of gender-based violence against children was also extremely concerning, as well as insufficient assistance or support provided to victims. JS6 added that domestic and gender-based violence were among the issues children and adolescent girls faced as they stayed home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has also increased children’s vulnerability to exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence by directly affecting their caregivers or causing the loss of their families’ and communities’ livelihoods.

National Report:
Para 9) Since the last review, Eswatini has enacted several legislations that domesticate the various human rights conventions ratified by the country. Some of the enacted legislations include inter alia: - the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2018,
Para 10) Further, Eswatini has made progress in developing sector policies guiding the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights as well as improving the livelihoods of Emaswati. These include National Gender Policy, Education and Training Sector Policy 2018 …
Para 35) The Kingdom of Eswatini has undertaken various approaches and strategies towards ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls. Women and girls are discriminated in many ways often disguised as tradition, customs as well as patriarchal norms and values which society has held on to in the name of indigenous culture (way of life).
Para 36) The Kingdom enacted the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act No. 15 of 2018. This Act makes provision concerning sexual offences and domestic violence, prevention and the protection of all persons from harm and acts of domestic violence amongst others. It serves as deterrent to a lot of discrimination, exploitation and mainly violence against women and girls who are considered as the most vulnerable groups of society. Regulations have been recently developed to facilitate holistic implementation of the SODV Act which include the establishment of specific institutions to further enhance the protection of women and children.
Para 37) During the period under review, Government has developed and is implementing a National Strategy and Action Plan to End Violence (2017-2022). This undertaking was in response to the realization of the lack of a multisectoral framework that will guide the prevention and response agenda to violence in the country. This framework has been very instrumental in the programming for prevention, social and behavioural change as well as protection of all vulnerable groups from violence. As such, this has seen the advancement of the Male involvement agenda being formed into a Men Engage Network to engage men and boys on gender equality, prevention of violence and abuse in all settings. There are Non Governmental Organisations like Kwakha Indvodza (KI), Swatini Action Group against Abuse (SWAGAA) among others that are leading these initiatives to eliminate violence in our societies.
Para 38) Eswatini has further developed a National Strategy and Plan of Action on Positive Parenting (2019-2023) currently at advanced stage of endorsement. The plan provides a blueprint and national roadmap towards achieving holistic child development through empowering and supporting parents to discharge their parenting roles. This plan seeks to instil principles that discourage violence and promote positive discipline, to assist eliminate all forms of violence including those appearing as child discipline.
Para 39) The National Gender Policy 2010 has been reviewed to align it with the Beijing declaration and Platform for Action as well as other regional and international frameworks. This policy will guide gender mainstreaming strategies for the next 10 years (2020–2030). However, due to the COVID 19 pandemic disruptions, it is yet to be implemented and integrated into national budgets.
Para 40) Eswatini has continued to invest in women driven economic empowerment initiatives, with the leadership from government’s strategic roadmap 2019–2023. A case in point is E100 million has been used to establish the Women’s Business Hub in Manzini.
Para 41) The Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise (SMME) Policy 2018 and the Eswatini National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2017-2022) have been adopted to contribute to poverty alleviation by enabling alternative channels to serve the poor.
Para 42) The major aim of the Financial Inclusion Strategy is to ensure the “delivery of financial services and products in ways that are available, accessible and affordable to all segments” of the country’s populace. The target is to grow adult access from 43% to 75% and reduce the excluded from 27% to 15% by 2022. The target will be achieved by expanding mobile money services (e-money) increasing usage of banks, reducing risks in management of financial services and devising alternative ways of serving the poor. Further, it targets the un-served or underserved in rural areas; women and youth; Micro, Small & Medium Entrepreneurs including in the agriculture sector. The Strategy will facilitate the participation of Women and Youth Entrepreneurs in economic activities, particularly women in the Informal sector who often lack access to credit for business start-ups and growth. Studies reveal that the Informal sector provides employment to 40.2 percent women compared to 25.5 percent men.
Para 43) Further, the country has developed a Citizens Economic Empowerment Bill 2021 to enable equal participation of women and men in economic transformation. The Bill seeks to, among other issues, “promote gender equality in accessing, owning, managing, controlling and exploiting economic resources”.
Para 44) The Government of Eswatini has established the Federation of National Associations of women in business in Eastern and Southern Africa (FEMCOM) along with a strategic plan of 2018-2022. FEMCOM is responsible for facilitating economic empowerment of women and youth entrepreneurs. Its mandate is to promote programmes, which integrate women into trade and development activities in various business fields, thus contributing to national development and the promotion of vision 2022.
Para 45) In 2020, the Government launched 50 Million African Women’s Speak digital Platform. To contribute to the economic empowerment of women through the provision of a networking platform that will enable women in business to access information and financial services. Specifically, the objective is to establish a platform to improve the ability of women entrepreneurs to network and share information as well as to access information on financial and non-financial services.
Para 48) With regards to representation of women in politics, Eswatini enacted the Election of Women Members into the House of Assembly Act No. 06 of 2018 to ensure that at least 30% of women constitute the House of Assembly, thereby giving effect to section 86 of the Constitution. However, this target has not been met as currently, women legislators constitute 20.38% of the legislators, and 29% at Cabinet.
Para 49) There are still barriers that hinder women’s ability to be elected or appointed into decision making positions such as patriarchy, economic disadvantages, social stereotypes, and socio-political perceptions around women’s leadership. As a mitigating measure, Eswatini is developing a National Strategy on women’s participation in politics and decision-making. This strategy seeks to address barriers to women’s participation.
Para 50) The Elections and Boundaries Commission conducts Civic Voter education to sensitize members of the public on the electoral process before elections. Further Civil Society Organisations conduct educational vote for women campaigns to ensure women’s participation in politics and decision-making structures. Women candidates and nominees are capacitated on leadership and campaigning skills prior to Secondary Elections.
Para 112) The enactment of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, 2018 and the development of regulations for the implementation of the act: This legislation aims to address the high rates of sexual and gender-based violence in the Kingdom. It makes provision concerning sexual offences and domestic violence, prevention and the protection of all persons from harm and acts of domestic violence amongst others. The development of Regulations is to realise the holistic implementation of the SODV Act which include the establishment of specific institutions aimed at providing protection for the most vulnerable groups such as women and children.
114) Despite the progress made, Eswatini continues to experience a number of challenges in the promotion and protection of human rights. Some of the notable challenges include: • High number of gender-based violence cases disproportionately affecting women and girls; approximately 1 in 3 females having experienced some form of sexual abuse by age of 18 years and 48% of women reporting to have experienced some form of sexual violence in their life time. This is despite the policies and legislation enacted to address this scourge.

UN Compilation:
UN Compilation:
Para 52) The HR Committee was concerned about reports of widespread violence against women and children, in particular pervasive sexual violence, including rape and marital rape, and that relevant officials lacked specific training on gender-based violence. It was also concerned that the national strategy and action plan to end violence for the period 2013–2018 had not yet been implemented.
Para 53) In its replies to the CRC Eswatini stated that, according to the 2016 study on violence against children, nearly three quarters of children experienced routine violence in the form of violent discipline. Over a third of all girls reported experiencing some form of sexual violence during childhood. Nearly 3 in 10 girls reported experiencing emotional violence during childhood, mostly from family members.
Para 55) The United Nations country office in Eswatini indicated that the State had made significant strides in addressing gender inequalities. However, pervasive structural disparities, deep-rooted harmful gender stereotypes and patriarchal attitudes had led to gender inequalities that disadvantaged women, while the country’s dual legal system – which was based on a constitutional legal framework and traditional and customary laws – provided women and girls with limited protection.
Para 56) The HR Committee noted with concern that several domestic laws contained discriminatory provisions towards women, such as the Marriage Act, and chapter 4 of the Constitution, which differentiated between men and women in the acquisition and transfer of citizenship. The Committee was also concerned that customary law and practices perpetuated inequality between men and women, in particular with regard to inheritance and property rights, and that cultural practices such as polygamy, forced marriage and bride inheritance continued to exist. The lack of equal representation of women in the public and private sectors, in particular in decision-making positions, was also a matter of concern.
Para 58) While the United Nations country team welcomed the Employment Act, which provided equal pay for equal work, it regretted that women’s participation and representation in politics and positions of influence remained a major challenge. In particular, the country team indicated that women’s representation in parliament still failed to meet the target of 30 per cent as provided for in the Constitution.
Para 59) The United Nations country team noted with satisfaction that, in 2018, Eswatini had passed the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act into law, and welcomed the strategy, plan of action and guidelines to address gender-based violence. However, the country team regretted the lack of resources for their full implementation. In particular, the country team noted that the Department of Gender and Family Issues remained challenged in terms of human resources and financial resources, and weak coordination of gender issues in the country.
Para 61) The United Nations country team was concerned about high levels of sexual violence during childhood, with an estimated one in three girls experiencing some form of sexual violence before the age of 18. The country team regretted that, despite the legislative measures taken, the weak government coordination in the area of child protection impeded effective and scaled response.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 58) HRW was concerned at the high rates of gender-based violence and that women and girls, especially those living in rural areas under traditional leaders and governed by highly patriarchal Swazi law and custom, were often subjected to discrimination and harmful practices such as the “inhlanti” and “kwendzisa”, and “kungenwa”. According to some stakeholders, married women remain “perpetual minors” and are subject to their husbands, who make key decisions for them as their “guardians.” Young women are forced to take part in highly-stereotyped cultural activities and may be punished or fined by traditional leaders if they resist.
Para 59) Several stakeholders also noted with concern that, according to statistics available, 1 in 3 women in Eswatini experienced some form of sexual violence by the time they were 18 and almost one in 2 women experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime, with boyfriends and husbands being the most frequent perpetrators. Only 3% of these incidents are reported to the police, only 7% of victims have access to counselling services, and 2.1% utilize a clinic or hospital.
Para 60) According to JS10 and HKCIJ, the prevalence of gender-based violence increased with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and domestic violence increased during the lockdowns.
Para 66) In HKCIJ’s opinion, the ongoing prevalence and acceptance of gender-based violence against children was also extremely concerning, as well as insufficient assistance or support provided to victims. JS6 added that domestic and gender-based violence were among the issues children and adolescent girls faced as they stayed home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has also increased children’s vulnerability to exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence by directly affecting their caregivers or causing the loss of their families’ and communities’ livelihoods.

National Report:
Para 14) … There are ongoing national processes to sensitize stakeholders on the need to ratify the OP-CEDAW …