Her Excellency the First Lady of Lesotho Mrs ‘Maesaiah Thabane, held a conference to discuss issues affecting women in Maseru on Wednesday this week.

Speaking during the conference a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Advocate Mabela Lehloenya, said Lesotho has shown progress in issues of women and law.

She said one of the successes Lesotho has achieved in implementing women’s rights, is Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006, which provides for the minority status of women in marriages, and for incidental matters.

She said before the law was enacted, all the laws relating to marriage in Lesotho considered women not equal to their husbands, and were also considered as first born children to their husbands.

She further said women were denied the right to take loans from banks, to hold managerial positions in companies or in society, and were also denied the right to buy land without the approval of their husbands.

Advocate Lehloenya indicated that one other point they consider as an achievement in the legal system of Lesotho, is Sexual Offences Act of 2013, which allows women to report sexual abuse without having semen in their bodies as evidence in the courts of law.

The First Lady ‘Maesaiah Thabane encouraged women to support each other as they are powerful.

She rebuked them for laughing other women when they have problems, and also called on them to vote and increase the number of women in the parliament of Lesotho in the coming national elections.