Personal Autonomy, Individual Rights and Associational Rights in Eswatini – World Countries for Kids
Freedom of movement is guaranteed under the constitution. But, minority ethnic groups and political activists have confronted inordinate delays in obtaining passports and other citizenship documents. Traditional chiefs control movement and residence within their communities and usually deny access to groups advocating for democracy or human rights. Individuals who violate customary rules can be evicted from their localities. Widows in mourning are prohibited from approaching chiefs or the king and excluded from certain public places and activities.
Legal protections for property rights are provided by the constitution, but women usually face limitations under customary rules that subordinate them to male relatives. Widows in particular face displacement by the late husband’s family. Chiefs have broad authority to assign and withdraw rights to communal land. Nevertheless, in 2019, the High Court ruled in favour of gender equality in civil marriages, granting women property rights in case of divorce. Individuals at times face expropriation due to land claims by state-owned establishments and powerful private interests. Constitutional assurances of fair compensation are not upheld in practice.
Women’s social freedoms are constrained by both civil and customary law, which puts them at a considerable disadvantage regarding marriage, divorce, and child custody. Customary law permits girls as young as 13 to marry. Sexual and domestic violence remains very common; in 2020, the UN resident coordinator for Eswatini stated that 48 percent of Swazi women and girls experience sexual violence in their lifetimes. Punishment for culprits is often lenient.
The Eswatini government made some progress on women’s rights in the year 2019 by amending the 1964 Marriage Act to forbid marriages of persons under the age of 18 and passing the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act, which outlaws nonconsensual sex between spouses.
Residents have access to formal employment and economic opportunity to some extent, but the majority of the population lives in poverty. Forced labour remains an issue, with some chiefs compelling Swazis, including kids, to work in their communities or the king’s fields. Among other forms of child labour, girls in p[articular are vulnerable to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation. The royal family has wide-ranging privileges compared to ordinary citizens.
Freedom of assembly is constrained. Surveillance of protests is very common, and the information collected is allegedly used to deny protesters access to government services and jobs. Demonstrations are very often violently dispersed by police, and protesters risk detention and arrest. Yet, labour and pro-democracy protests have happened in spite of these risks. Protests that are not perceived as a direct challenge to the king have been permitted to go forward.