Gender-based violence on the rise

QACHA’S NEK – A 56-year-old man from Tebellong last week appeared in the Qacha’s Nek Magistrates’ Court charged with rape.

The victim: a 14-year-old girl living with disability whom he called to his home and sexually abused several times throughout the day.

As Lesotho prepares to join the test of the world to commemorate the 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) campaign, the country is battling with rising cases of gender based violence.

In many cases, children are the victims.

The report indicates that Makoae Mohale called the victim to his home where he sexually abused her several times throughout the day.

The victim lives with his 70-year-old grandmother.

In another recent case, Makoae’s elder brother, Sello Phatela, 81, sexually abused the same victim.

He abducted her and took her to his house before sexually abusing her and then promising to marry her.

He returned her to her home the next morning.

At that time she was 13-years-old.

The court sentenced Phatela to three years in prison.

This child is said to be routinely taken advantage of even by relatives, one of the relatives is in jail for raping her.

In another case, Katepe Katepe, 33, of Lebakeng in Lesobeng, appeared before the courts on similar charges after taking advantage of a village celebration.

On October 16 there was a motontonyane celebration (adancing ritual where girls sing and dance to pray for rain) in the village where people are said to have gotten drunk.

Later that day, Katepe raped one of the girls who had attended the celebration when she was on her way back home.

She said Katepe threatened to rape her as he walked with her home.

“I did not think he was serious. He tried to take off my clothes but I refused and that resulted in a fight as he beat me so much that I was unable to stand up after he raped me,” she said.

He is in detention after being denied bail. The Commissioner of Police, Holomo Molibeli, said statistics reveal that sexual offences are “rampant” in Lesotho.

He said this during the handing over of sexual offence investigations material by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

He said women and children as young as two years are among victims of sexual abuse.

“This is a very serious issue which needs further collaboration with stakeholders to eradicate it.

“Receiving 10 000 medical forms shows how highly committed this offence is,” said Molibeli.

He noted the performance of the courts as “quite encouraging”.

“Our courts frown when it comes to sexual offences so that really encourages us. The accused when they are found guilty get (long) sentences. It is very encouraging and it shows that if we work together against sexual offences, the prevalence will be down,” said Molibeli.

According to the Bureau of Statistics Crime Statistics, sexual offences rank third on the list of crimes in the country.

According to a United Nations study conducted in 2015, Lesotho has the highest rate of rape in the world, with 61 percent of women reporting having experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives.

Speaking on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator at a media capacity building on GBV, Aurore Rusiga, said the percentage of sexual violence offenders in Lesotho prisons was 44 percent with some prisons like Mohale’s Hoek and Mafeteng accounting for 71 percent and 62 percent of sexual violence offenders as of January this year.

She said the advent of Covid-19 contributed to the increase of various forms of violence against women and girls.

“The pandemic made things worse. It contributed to more GBV with increases in domestic and sexual violence, child marriage, sexual exploitation and abuse due to economic stress, school closures and mobility restrictions,” Rusiga said.

“The elimination of GBV is a part of the 2030 agenda. Women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development.

“This means that all the SDGs depend on the achievement of Goal 5. Women and girls, in Lesotho and everywhere, must have equal rights and opportunities, and be able to live free from violence and discrimination,” said Rusiga.

She said the UN remains committed to assist media professionals and other important stakeholders such as law enforcement authorities, the government, civil society organisations, youth groups and women in the fight against GBV.

The Police’s Child and Gender Protection Unit (CGPU) reports that there have been 184 sexual offences and 45 assault cases perpetrated against women from January to July this year.

According to a report released by Afrobarometer in August this year, GBV is a reality for many women in Lesotho.

In 2021, at least 47 percent of women murdered in Lesotho were killed by their intimate partners, according to the report.

UNAIDS in 2021 reported that GBV remains a serious threat to the nation both developmentally and economically, and recognised the vice as one of the drivers of HIV in a country that has the third-highest prevalence rate in the world at 23.2 percent.

“The GBV Indicators Study by Gender Links 2015 reported that 86 percent of women and 40 percent of men in Lesotho experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, and that a majority of victims do not report the violence to the police or seek medical attention or legal recourse,” noted UNAIDS.

Among barriers to reporting identified by the study are survivor stigmatisation by the community, feelings of shame, inadequate police response to victims and the belief that domestic violence is a private matter not to be discussed with strangers.

The report states that activists blame patriarchy for fuelling GBV in the country.

Despite the Sexual Offences Act (2003) and the Married Persons Act (2006) providing for equal rights for men and women in marriage, the Customary Law subordinating women to men is still very much part of society in Lesotho.

Parliament in June 2022 passed the Counter Domestic Violence Bill, but critics say policing and judicial responses will also need to be strengthened to reduce the country’s GBV problem.

Basotho see GBV as the most important women’s-rights issue that the government and society must address.

A majority, 53 percent of citizens, say violence against women is “somewhat common”, with 28 percent saying it is “very common”, according to an Afrobarometer survey released in August.

The Afrobarometer says more than eight in ten (85 percent) Basotho say it is “never” justified for a man to physically discipline his wife.

About two in 10 think it is “sometimes” justifiable to physically discipline a wife, while four percent says it is always justified.

It says almost six in ten respondents (56 percent) consider it “somewhat likely” that a woman will be criticised or harassed if she reports GBV to the authorities while 27 percent says it is “very likely”.

But most citizens, 79 percent, say the police are likely to take cases of GBV seriously.

A slim majority, 53 percent, of Basotho say domestic violence should be treated as a criminal matter rather than as a private matter to be resolved within the family.

In Lesotho, almost two-thirds (64 percent of citizens), identify GBV as the most important women’s rights issue for the government and society to address, Afrobarometer says.

It says GBV ranks far ahead of unequal opportunities or pay in the workplace (11 percent), unequal rights of property ownership and inheritance (9 percent), unequal access to education (7 percent) and too few women in influential positions in government (7 percent) as priorities.

It says women (56 percent) are slightly more likely than men (51 percent) to say that violence against women and girls is a common occurrence, as are urban residents (60 percent) compared to their rural counterparts (51 percent).

This perception, Afrobarometer says, is also more widespread among poor citizens (58 percent) of those experiencing high “lived poverty” but less common among those with no formal education (47 percent).

Older respondents (50 percent) are less likely to report that GBV happens frequently.

Thooe Ramolibeli