Make Every Woman Count
4.2. Trends in Legal, Policy and Institutional Reform 4.2.1. Legal Reforms Throughout the AWD, Southern African countries adopted legal reforms relevant to eradicating VAW and harmful practices. All countries in the region, except Lesotho, have laws on domestic violence. Angola passed its Domestic Violence Act in 2011 and its implementing regulations in August 2013.1496 The Act classifies marriage with a child under the age of 14 as a public order offence, a complaint that cannot be withdrawn.1497 Zambia passed the Anti-GBV Act, 2011, which provides for the protection of victims of GBV, creates shelters for victims, both adult and children, and establishes an Anti-GBV Fund. The Act defines GBV as any “physical, mental, social or economic abuse against a person because of that person’s gender” to the person and includes violence that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering and that occurs in a domestic relationship.1498 Eswatini promulgated the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2018, which recognises that a previous or existing relationship cannot be used as a defence for any SGBV offence, thus in effect criminalising marital rape, including any sexual act with a spouse who is a child.1499 In January 2020, the first Eswatini man was arrested for committing marital rape and tried in court.1500 Malawi’s 2015 Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act allows a spouse to “deny the other spouse the right to consummation on reasonable grounds.”1501 Other legislation adopted during the Decade provides protection against sexual harassment. In 2011, the South African Parliament enacted the Protection from Harassment Act, under which sexual harassment includes mental, psychological and economic harm.1502 In addition, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 6 of 2012 was passed to provide for effective prosecution and conviction of offenders.1503 Mozambique adopted a new Penal Code that criminalises sexual harassment.1504 Harmful practices appear as specific prohibited forms of abuse in several pieces of legislation, including those in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which prohibit forced virginity testing, sexual cleansing and forced spousal inheritance.1505 FGM was criminalised in two countries (Mozambique and Zambia) during the AWD.1506 Malawi’s Gender Equality Act 2013 bans “sexual cleansing,” a cultural practice meant to cleanse girls and women after they have started menstruating (kusasa fumbi), after they have become widows (kulowa kufa) or after an abortion.1507 Some Southern African countries have passed legislation to abolish child marriage and protect children, in particular young girls. Mozambique adopted the Prevention and Combat Against Early Unions Act in 2019, which completely prohibits marriages of minors under 18 years of age.1508 The Act also imposes a penalty of two to eight years in prison and a fine for those who knowingly authorise marriage in which one or both parties are under 18 years.1509 In Eswatini, the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2012 grants any person under 18 the right to refuse any customary or traditional practice that can negatively affect them.1510 The Act also penalises parents and guardians who collude with adult men to orchestrate forced child marriages through a practice known as kwendizisa.1511 Several laws have been passed that address trafficking in persons, which is still widespread in the region. Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe adopted new legislation during the Decade, so that all SADC countries now have laws on trafficking in persons. The Eswatini Sexual Offences Act 2018 established new penalties for perpetrators of sex trafficking and new legal protections for victims of exploitation, including sex trafficking.1512 Botswana, Malawi and Namibia adopted national action plans to combat trafficking in persons.1513
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