‘Sharing my bed with the enemy’: Wives and violent husbands in post-colonial Swaziland

Abstract

Colonialism produced numerous changes in Swazi socio-economic configurations as society was forced to respond to political and economic policies imposed by the colonial regime. These changes did not only inform colonial developments but had a profound bearing on post-colonial developments. One of these changes was the integration of Swazi women into wage employment in response to the growth of capitalist economic enterprises. Research on this development has been neglected such that up to now, we know little about the dynamics that drove indigenous Swazi women into wage employment. This paper argues that these dynamics are located in the exigencies of colonial policy that negatively impacted on the economic performance of areas occupied by the indigenous Swazi. It is shown that as the crises of product intensified in Swazi reserves, more women were released into wage employment. It is argued that this was not a smooth process, but women's integration into wage employment was a contested issue whereby Swazi men, families, indigenous chiefs, the monarchy, and colonial administrators attempted to frustrate female participation in wage employment. However, these attempts were not successful as women continued to take up wage employment with or without the permission of their husbands, fathers, families, chiefs, and colonial administrators.

Love matters: exploring conceptions of love in Rwanda and Swaziland and relationship to HIV and intimate partner violence

“…In Rwanda, women in informal marriages have been found to be more prone to social discrimination, have less influence in household decision-making compared to married women, and have less legal protection than do married women regarding land and property rights, custody of children, and IPV (Stern & Mirembe, 2017). In contrast, Simelane (2011) and Golomski (2016) provide evidence that Swazi courts (both traditional and civil) do not protect married women against mistreatment by husbands, even in cases of extreme physical violence.…”

Women’s socioeconomic status and attitudes toward intimate partner violence in Eswatini: A multilevel analysis

“…This is not to diminish the significance of the aforementioned literature about the discourse on intimate partner violence at the global and regional levels. Yet available literature shows that Eswatini is a patriarchal society that perceives women as minors as entrenched in traditional customs such as paying ‘lobola’ bridewealth [ 31 , 33 ]. Women are vulnerable to rape, assault, or other forms of violence in Eswatini [ 34 ].…”

“…Women often encounter additional barriers and cultural/social norms that restrict their choices in power dynamics [ 39 ]. In rural communities, patriarchal cultural beliefs and practices are highly respected and upheld, particularly through the leadership of Chiefs and other Swazi traditional authorities [ 31 , 38 , 40 ]. According to an earlier study, about 2 out of 5 Swazi women and men justified intimate partner violence against women [ 14 ].…”

Outliving love: marital estrangement in an African insurance market

“…Despite the legion historical literature on transformations to gender, sexuality, and kinship under colonialism, there is little ethnographic work on divorce in Africa amid contemporary, changing economies (Stiles 2003, 2005, Dorjahn 1990, Medeiros 2014. Hamilton Sipho Simelane (2011) has moved in this direction in post-colonial Swaziland, describing how some women estrange themselves from abusive marriages by engaging in economic activities like wage labour. Finally, recent approaches to the anthropology of the life course have not considered forms of divorce as significant social and personal transformations or transitions (Lynch and Danely 2013).Marital estrangement and divorce are a life crises and portend momentous re-configurations of kinship and prospects for others' and one's own wellbeing in later life, including a dignified burial in this case here.…”

“…If divorce is not possible because it is either too costly or threatens to undo the greater social field in which women might find assistance for themselves and their children, women may undertake economic activities that could improve their immediate or future chances. They may maintain or engage formal wage employment(Simelane 2011) or, as for some women I describe next, continue to pay for their partner's insurance coverage surreptitiously.First, though, insurance in Swaziland has to be contextualised. The Kingdom witnessed an influx of foreign life insurance companies in the mid 2000s, associated with changes to the financial services sector and high death rates from HIV/AIDS.…”