By James Hall

MBABANE, Aug 16 (IPS) û Traditionalists who hold sway over public opinion in Swaziland, the last African nation to be ruled by a hereditary monarch, reject abortion as a woman's right over her body.

In fact, women and teenage girls are considered legal minors here: they cannot take loans, enter into contracts or own land without the permission of a male relative, who is their legal beneficiary.

Traditional practices and systems are, however, no longer able to protect women and other vulnerable sections of the population from the impact of crises like HIV/AIDS, a recent United Nations report has pointed out.

Last week, a submission in favour of legalised abortion was presented for the first time to the Swazi Parliament by Senator Mbho Shongwe who believes sharp gender inequalities in society have, among other things, saddled Swazi women with unwanted children while leaving fathers free to withhold support.

ôWe have to consider the health and rights of young women in the age of AIDS," Senator Shongwe told IPS. ôGirls are going across the border for abortions in South Africa where the operation is legal. Or they are having unsafe kitchen table abortions here. That is the reality. Two senior nurses were convicted and sent to prison this year for giving their niece an abortion. They were willing to throw away their careers to assist the girl."

Organisations like the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, which counsels survivors of rape and incest, and the Swaziland AIDS Support Organisation applaud Shongwe for publicly raising the issue of abortion.

The senator feels that women who are HIV-positive or who have been raped by HIV-positive men should in particular have the right to medically terminate the pregnancy because of their fear that they may transmit the HIV virus to their babies.

ôI consider it a long shot that legalised abortion will come soon, but discussion must begin," asserts Shongwe, the only public figure in Swaziland to speak up in favour of abortion.

ôIt is true that AIDS has changed everything, but there are many people who are uncomfortable with abortion," says Doo Aphane, national coordinator for Women in Law Swaziland. ôBut it all comes down to gender rights and human rights. Do women have control over their reproductive rights, or will the state continue to control this personal matter?"

Conservative opinion strongly rebuts all change. ôAbortion is murder, and it is wrong," says influential pastor Rev. Nash Shongwe. ôIt will bring God's punishment upon the nation of Swaziland."

But isn't Swaziland already being ôpunished"? New figures released in early August by the National Emergency Response Committee on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA), which disburses government funds to NGOs fighting AIDS, show that in Rev. Nash's city, Manzini, 52 percent of women 20-30 years old and 44 percent of women 30-40 years old are HIV-positive.

Two-thirds of Swazis live below the poverty line, and a majority of these are women who are blocked by their legal status as minors from obtaining bank loans to finance economic empowerment projects.

Government land policy and the drought which has gripped the entire region, means that a quarter of the country's population will be without food by year's end. Mostly women will go hungry, as they are left on arid rural homestead with their children, while male relatives head for the cities in search of jobs.

A report, 'Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal in Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in Swaziland', by United Nations agencies coordinating disaster relief says that chronic food shortages and health crises like AIDS will persist if women are not given equal rights.

ôOnly by empowering women with the means to fulfil their economic potential will the country achieve food security and sustainable growth," says the report.

King Mswati has promised a new constitution by October this year. However, it will be based on Swazi Law and Custom. ôAbortion will not be permitted," says Prince Mguciso, the king's older brother who is a member of the Swazi National Council, the body that advises the monarch.

ôThe reason why abortion is not permitted is the same reason why gender equality was not permitted, and it has to do with the need to procreate, to make more Swazis," explains historian Alan Dlamini.

Dlamini notes that a century ago, there were fewer than 100,000 Swazis. A high birth rate and polygamy were regarded as essential to ensure national survival, prevent Swaziland from being absorbed by its larger and more populous neighbouring states like South Africa or Mozambique. Despite persisting high infant mortality and low life expectancy rates for most of the 20th century, the Swazi population grew ten-fold, and is nearing one million today in a country about the size of Wales.

ôWhat we now have is overpopulation that is making the food crisis worse," says Lutheran charities aid worker Sylvia Mngomezulu. ôNo one is saying that abortion should be considered as an after the fact type of contraception, but women have the right to that option."

Women like Cynthia Dube of Manzini want the right legalised. ôI know that I am HIV, because I was tested," she says. ôI practice safe sex, and my partner wears a condom. But if something goes wrong, I do not want to have a child who will die of AIDS like me."

National director for NERCHA, Dr. Derrick von Wissell, told IPS, ôWe will have up to 40,000 new (AIDS) orphans each year. This is a tremendous burden for a small country, and yes there will be tragedies where children die of neglect."

A demand for change is being aired by the younger generation. Dudu Simelane, an economics student at the University of Swaziland, sees abortion as a right that must not be withheld, whether a woman chooses to exercise it or not.

ôThe old need to have many babies is finished. The need to keep women barefoot and pregnant is finished," she says with passion. ôI should be able to take out a bank loan in my own name, to enter into a contract. I study economics, and I know more about contracts than most men. I must also have control over my reproductive rights."

As AIDS and famine devastate tiny Swaziland, Simelane says she believes the old ways that are unable to stop these scourges must yield to previously unpopular options, like abortion. (END/IPS/AF/HE/HR/JH/AN/02)