Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Swaziland gender march closed down

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.

RWA’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.”


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