60% of female tertiary students in Eswatini survivors of Gender-Based Violence

About 60% of female students in local universities and colleges experienced sexual assault or there was an attempt to violate them, a research conducted by UNESWA has confirmed.

This was revealed by the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Justice Thwala during One Billion Rising Eswatini 2026 Festival on ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) held at UNESWA, Kwaluseni Campus on Saturday.

The festival was held under the theme ‘Rising for Our Bodies, Our Earth, Our Future.’

“Research conducted at UNESWA confirms that approximately 60% of female students in local universities and colleges report experiencing attempted or completed sexual assault in their lifetime,” Thwala said.

He said according to the research, nearly 38% of the female students experienced sexual violence within a single year and that over 90% of perpetrators were known to the survivor as they were partners, friends or acquaintances.

He said the statistics also indicated that many survivors never reported the abuse, often due to fear, stigma or lack of trust in systems.

The VC mentioned that further studies led by the deputy prime minister’s office, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), confirmed that GBV in the country was driven by unequal power relations and patriarchal norms, harmful socialisation of youth, alcohol and substance abuse, economic stress and unemployment, weak community accountability, and a culture of silence.

He said these drivers were magnified in youth spaces, including universities and therefore sustained, youth-focused action was not optional.

“Universities are not just places of learning; they are training grounds for future leaders, parents, professionals and policy makers. If we change how young people understand consent, power and respect today, we change the country tomorrow,” he said.

Thwala added that it was for that reason why UNESWA was expanding peer-led prevention programmes, strengthening community circles and psychosocial support, and calling for enhanced campus security infrastructure, including fencing, lighting, access control and trained response units.

“We are appealing to government, development partners and the private sector for support to secure our campuses and protect our students by building a secure fencing system with biometrics and surveillance cameras to prevent intruders from entering into students’ spaces,” he said.

According to the VC, these initiatives were entrenched in the context of a transformation framework approved by the University Council and informed by the university strategic plan and the Cabinet-approved task team report.

He said the Cabinet Implementation Task Team would act as an advisory and oversight body, while this transformation journey would be explicitly anchored in strengthened governance, accountability, financial reform, academic renewal and the rebuilding of staff and student experience, executed within the existing legal and governance framework.

He said this was meant to ensure that, in the context of student welfare and experience within their university academic life, no student should be attacked, no survivor should suffer because systems failed and that no family should bury a child because violence went unchecked.

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He mentioned that when they say ‘Rise for Our Bodies, Our Future, Our Earth,’ they meant everyone.

Thwala said to the men and boys, strength was accountability, not control.

“We owe it to our future generation to teach our boys that true gentlemen protect their sisters and not see them as objects to violate. To the elders: help us discard customs that perpetrate harm and abuse of women and equally abuse boys and men. It’s time to teach our young boys that when a girl says no, it is a no,” Thwala said.

He highlighted that the SiSwati slogan ‘kubindvwa kubonwa’, translated to men keeping quiet while witnessing wrongdoing, may be acceptable in certain contexts, but cannot be justified in the face of escalating GBV cases.