Creating a circle of trust for a gender inclusive society in Swaziland

  THE GIRLS’ AND WOMEN’S PROTECTION ACT Date of commencement: 17th September, 1920. An Act to provide for the protection of women and girls . Short title . 1.         This Act may be cited as the Girls’ and Women’s Protection Act, 1920. Interpretation . 2.         In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “unlawful carnal connection” means carnal connection otherwise than between husband and wife. Offences in relation to girls under sixteen . 3.         (1)     Every male person who has unlawful carnal connection with a girl under the age of sixteen years or who commits with a girl under that age immoral or indecent acts or who solicits or entices a girl under such age to the commission of such acts shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding six years with or without whipping not exceeding twenty-four lashes and with or without a fine not exceeding one thousand emalangeni in addition to such imprisonment and lashes.

 Abstract Women's subordination is not new in the world. As society became human rights conscious, many countries started abrogating or scrapping discriminatory laws and attitudes towards women, in particular married women. However, it has taken Eswatini more than 100 years to deal with the fact that the common law principle of marital power discriminates against women. This paper traces the reception of marital power into the legal framework of Eswatini and how advocacy groups on women's rights and freedoms have opposed women's subordination, fortified by research. This paper presents a desktop review of selected literature and case laws touching on women's emancipation in Eswatini. This research work is significant in that it adds to the body of knowledge by recording the origins of women's subjection to marital power and their eventual emancipation in the landmark case of Sacolo v Sacolo (1403/2016) [2019] SZHC 166 (30 August 2019).  Keywords Eswatini, marital po