Swaziland LAWA Fellow 2005-2006 B.A., University of Swaziland L.L.B., University of Swaziland L.L.M., Georgetown University Law Center

LAWA Experience:

Her graduate paper entitled, “Workplace Sexual Harassment in Swaziland: A Human Rights Analysis,” exposes the fragmented nature of Swaziland’s sexual harassment laws and the inability of such legislation to recognize, much less address, the real realities of harassment.

As a LAWA Fellow, Ms. Kubheka completed an internship at the International Center for Research on Women.

Other Work Experience:

Following completion of her L.L.B. degree, Ms. Kubheka joined a human rights NGO called the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA), which is widely known for providing support to survivors of abuse.

Biography of SINDILE B. MCANYANA KUBHEKA:

Sindile Kubheka attained her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) [an equivalent to a JD] from the University of Swaziland in 2000. She joined Swaziland Action Group against Abuse (SWAGAA), Swaziland’s leading women & children’s human rights watch-dog NGO on a voluntary basis in 2001. She provided counseling to survivors of abuse and ran the children’s care centre. In 2002 she was engaged as full time Program Officer in the counseling department, her duties included supervising the volunteer counselors, educating communities about gender based violence, she provided child counseling and gave legal advice to survivors of abuse. In 2004 she joined Swaziland Skills Centres (SSC), a vocational training institution that provides skills to disadvantaged youth with minimal formal education, as the Personnel Director and was later appointed to act as the Chief Executive Director. She held the acting position until she went to further her studies at Georgetown Law Center, in 2005 following a successful application to WLPPFP for the LAWA Fellowship program.

She left behind a set of 5 year old twins and her 2 year old baby girl in the care of her family. She was initially reluctant to take up the scholarship because of the children’s ages, but her mother urged her to take up the challenge because it would in turn benefit her children and the nation at large.

In the US she studied international human rights law, with a special focus on women’s rights, children’s rights and alternative dispute resolution. Through the LAWA Fellowship she spoke in various gatherings about the issues affecting women in Swaziland particularly the cultural practices that are oppressive to women. Her major highlights were meeting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the US Supreme Court and meeting Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton. She met lawyers from various parts of the world through the international program and through her membership with Foreign Lawyers at Georgetown (FLAG) association and she was a member of Black Lawyers at Georgetown. Her graduate paper for the Women’s International Human Rights class was titled, "Workplace Sexual Harassment in Swaziland." Under the supervision of Professor Wendy Williams, she discussed the extent of the problem in her country and critiqued the failure of the law in Swaziland to directly address workplace sexual harassment especially in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, her country is battling with.

She interned with two organizations for the summer in 2005. For the first half of her internship period, she joined Break the Cycle, an organization that empowers the youth against domestic violence through free legal aid and public awareness. She then sought further exposure to women’s human rights issues from the International Centre for Research on Women, an organization that conducts research on issues affecting women worldwide for policy reform purposes.

Sindile returned to Swaziland in August 2006 to her former job with Swaziland Skills Centres as Director of Personnel. She conscientiously made sure that the intake of women trainees for 2007 increased substantially through advertising in the media and mobilizing other NGOs to refer girls to SSC for skills development in a bid to equip young women with a key to economic independence.  In November 2006, the SSC Board of Directors offered her the position of SSC substantive Chief Executive Director which she accepted. She is currently heading a predominantly male institution with over 50 employees and over 200 trainees in three centres situated in different regions in the country.