By James Hall

MBABANE, Aug 2 (IPS) û Churches in Swaziland are going beyond their traditional functions as places of religious and social congregation to assist young women.

Religious leaders are assuming new activist roles as combatants of child abuse and AIDS. The Swaziland Council of Churches, which estimates that over 90 percent of the kingdom's 970,000 people are churchgoers, is targeting teenage girls for special attention to receive advice on HIV transmission and human rights.

''We are working with the churches on a new initiation called 'Say Yes to Children'. And, the church leaders tell us that girls in the 15 to 18 years age bracket tend to be overlooked by initiatives devoted to AIDS and gender rights," Alan Brody, the Swaziland representative for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) told IPS.

''The issue of AIDS is intimately tied with the issue of gender and child 's rights, because we are finding that incidents of incest and child abuse have a direct bearing on the HIV infection rate," says Brody.

Lisa Dube, a 17-year-old high school student from rural Mliba, told IPS: ôIn our Bible study groups at AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, we are learning about our right to say no to sex." According to her, a lot of girls think that when a relative tells them to have sex they feel they have to because the relative may be an uncle or cousin or sometimes even the father who will say that the Bible says this is proper.

ôAt Bible study we learn this is not so. Being forced to have sex is a violation of our human rights. It is also easy to get AIDS," she adds.

Members of Lisa's Bible class are learning that death from AIDS is the ultimate violation of human rights. By allowing such discussions for young women, churches in Swaziland, with their extensive membership among all generations, are vastly increasing the dissemination of information about AIDS and gender rights in a country where such information has been slow to be distributed.

For the past ten years, the Catholic Church has followed a politically progressive agenda under Bishop Ncimisa Ndlovu, and a course of social activism under Father Larry McDonnell.

ôYoung women are more vulnerable to AIDS because they have fewer protection in law and culture û it's a gender inequality issue û and so they are easily exploited," says McDonnell. ôWe have a special school for girls who become pregnant and are automatically expelled from the public schools. We teach them skills, AIDS-avoidance, and how to get along in life independently."

Other Christian denominations aligned under the Swaziland Council of Churches have been slower to embrace social issues. ôMy fellow priests are waking up to the danger our flocks face, particularly the girls. We have to take positive action, or we will have no congregations to minister to," says Reverend Jabulani Dlamini of Mliba.

This week, the latest AIDS data was reported by United Nations agencies in the kingdom in a consolidated appeal for humanitarian crisis assistance in Swaziland. The HIV-infection rate among adults is now up to 34.2 percent nationwide, making Swaziland second only to Botswana in African nations' infection rates.

Nomsa Khumalo, 15, who attends a Pentecostal church at Lobamba, the nation's traditional capital outside Mbabane, says, ôOur priest only told Bible stories from the pulpit, but now he speaks about AIDS and incest. He tells the girls we must look out for ourselves, we must be empowered to say no to sex."

In its disaster relief report, which is anticipating a post-drought food shortage, the UN agencies noted, ôAssistance from outside must be predicated on principles not just of charity but of human rights." This conclusion was drawn from observations that ensuring gender equality for young women, for example, can reduce HIV-infections and empower a new pool of income earners who can create an environment of disease-free, sustainable development that will reduce the need for further humanitarian assistance.

The report notes that due to their widespread influence, Swaziland's churches are valuable pulpits to provide information to young women about their rights in health and empowerment matters. The Council of Churches' work with UNICEF on this year's child welfare campaign, which focuses primarily on girls, was highlighted as an example of what can be accomplished when religious leaders cooperate on social concerns.

But many priests are uncomfortable with frank discussions of sex, particularly when the audience is young women. They prefer that outside organisations like UNICEF take the lead.

ôWe put together a group of folklore stories that used animals to inform girls about incest and AIDS. The animals make it easier to confront these sensitive problems, and the test groups loved them," says UNICEF representative Brody. ôBut you should have seen the bishops, not knowing whether to laugh or sit very serious. This is new to them. But they were grateful for the initiative."

Thembi Shongwe is one of the child actresses who perform the folk tales for church groups. ôAt first I thought these were animal stories, but they are about child abuse. We learn it is our right to protect ourselves from AIDS and abuse. Many girls don't think about these things until it is too late."

The Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), a counselling service, reports cases of incest are up 50 percent in two years. But regrets that it is encouraged rather than discouraged because the rise in cases is credited to better reporting, stemming from victims' awareness that they should inform police and authorities when they are violated.

ôWe see the churches as places girls can go to report abuse, because they are familiar with them and know their community pastors," says counsellor Agnes Kunene. ôThe pastors in turn must emphasise to young women that the door is always open to them. We are already seeing this happening, particularly in rural areas when a church can be a social centre."

ôThe Bible says the Lord helps those who help themselves," says Nomsa Khumalo. ôIf an uncle tells me I must sleep with him because the Bible says I must, I have learned from (Bible) class that no, I must stand up for my rights, and avoid AIDS." (END/IPS/AF/HR/HE/JH/AN/02)