Women protest brutal rape

Swazi women took to the streets in an unprecedented protest march on Thursday following the public gang rape of a teenage girl at a bus rank in the commercial city Manzini. "Abuse of women is getting worse, and we must stop it because the next time there might be a public murder," said one of the march organisers, Brenda Nhlabatsi, of the Swaziland chapter of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. Condemning the rape by bus conductors and drivers of an 18 year-old student, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini expressed concern over the possibility of HIV infection, "What the young woman was subjected could be tantamount to murder, as the health status of the perpetrators is not known." The grandmother of the victim criticised police for their inaction. Officers from headquarters just two blocks away did not appear on the scene for two hours. Sources told IRIN that the police had long ago ceded security of the bus rank to vigilante groups made up of drivers and conductors, who earlier this year had banned women passengers from wearing mini-skirts. "Conductors stripped naked women in mini-skirts twice before this year, but this week's incident shows that violence against women is escalating, exacerbated by the lack of law enforcement," said Nhlabatsi. The victim was headed for a girlfriend's birthday party when she was pulled off her bus by conductors. Cutting off her skirt with a knife, the conductors, aged 17 to 24, raped her repeatedly. When arrested on Wednesday after a rising public outcry since the first reports of the incident appeared on Sunday, they were charged with indecent assault as a brush handle had also been used in the attack. "The girls' screams were drowned out by the crowd, all men, who whistled and cheered on the conductors, who continued with their raping even though the girl was bleeding heavily," an eyewitness said. Some women attempted to intervene, and wrapped a Swazi cloth (lihiya) around the naked girl's waste. They were reportedly pushed aside by the conductors, who continued to rape the girl. "Why are women treated like second class citizens in this country, and why is government silent on these daily rape cases?" asked Gugu Phungwayo, an organiser with the Swaziland National Provident Fund. About 1,000 marchers, including school children, joined the protest action at the bus rank on Thursday, with speakers demanding the abolishment of outmoded customs that keep Swazi women in minority status. "Women cannot purchase land or sign contracts, we cannot take out a bank loan without the sponsorship of a husband or male relative. Legally, we are children. How can a country treat its women like this today?" one speaker said.