Eswatini Close to Gender Equality in Education and Employment, but Girls and Women Face Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

12 August 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Sipho Kunene

Most citizens say the police and courts need to do more against these threats.

Key findings

  • In Eswatini, women and men are close to equal in educational attainment, though slightly more women than men lack formal schooling (6% vs. 3%).
  • Most Emaswati (96%) say girls are "rarely" or "never" prevented from attending school because their families prioritise the education of boys.
  • But three in 10 citizens (29%) say girls "often" or "always" face discrimination, harassment, or requests for sexual favours from teachers.
  • Among working-age adults, Swati men are 4 percentage points more likely than women to be in full-time employment (23% vs. 19%), while women are more likely to report not having work and looking for a job (48% vs. 44%).
  • A lack of childcare and flexible work arrangements, along with an employer preference for hiring men, are most often cited as the main barriers preventing women from entering and advancing in the workforce.

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The government of Eswatini has committed itself to promoting women's rights and eliminating gender discrimination by signing and ratifying several international treaties and conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. To honour these commitments, the government has implemented a range of domestic policies and programmes, including the National Gender Policy and the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (Department of Gender and Family Issues, 2024).

Eswatini ranks 47th out of 146 countries on gender equality in the Global Gender Gap Index, level with Luxembourg and Singapore (World Economic Forum, 2024). An independent assessment notes that Eswatini's relatively high ranking on the index is mostly "driven by near-gender parity in education, improved health outcomes, and a progressive legal and policy framework" (Coope, Mabundza, & Sihlongonyane, 2025). Eswatini also performs well in labour-force participation, especially in the share of technical and professional workers, where there is 100% gender parity (World Economic Forum, 2024). And the government has made progress on four priority indicators that form part of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality), including meeting demand for family planning among women of reproductive age (Department of Gender and Family Issues, 2024).

Despite these efforts, significant challenges remain, including high rates of gender-based violence, limited access to resources for women, and cultural norms that perpetuate gender inequality. Coope, Mabundza, and Sihlongonyane (2025) observe that among Emaswati, boys and girls continue to be socialised differently, in line with gender expectations that dictate women's roles primarily as caregivers, limiting their opportunities for economic participation and personal development.

Girls face particular hurdles in completing school, including pregnancy and child marriage. According to UNICEF (2025), in Eswatini, pregnancies are responsible for 41% of all dropouts in lower secondary school and 52% of those in senior secondary school. And 17% of married Swati women were wed before they reached legal adulthood (Heart for Africa, 2025).

Access to leadership and decision-making roles also continues to be a challenge for women. Only 22% of seats in Parliament are currently occupied by women - fewer than the 30% mandated by the Constitution (Medeiros, 2024).

The recent Afrobarometer survey provides some insights into gender equality in Eswatini. Survey findings show that women and men have near-equal levels of educational attainment, although women are marginally more likely to lack formal education.

While almost all Emaswati say boys' education is rarely or never prioritised over girls', three in 10 say girls regularly face discrimination, harassment, or requests for sexual favours from teachers.

Working-age women are slightly less likely than working-age men to be in full-time employment. Citizens cite a lack of childcare and flexible work arrangements as barriers to women's professional advancement, along with gender discrimination in hiring. One-third of citizens say husbands or other family members often prevent women from working outside the home.

More than one-fourth of respondents say girls and women often experience sexual harassment in public spaces. And while most think that complaints of discrimination and harassment are likely to be believed, a majority say the police and courts need to do more to protect women and girls against these threats.

Most citizens support equal rights for women to be elected to political office

Sipho Kunene Sipho Kunene is the Technical Consultant at QA.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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