01 Mar 2015

For the first time this year, Botswana joined the rest of the world in commemorating the One Billion Rising revolution against gender-based violence.

One Billion Rising is a mass action campaign to end violence against women across the world. Global statistics indicate that one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. This number translated to one billion women hence, the name of the campaign.

Men and women, boys and girls from all over Chobe recently took part in song, dance, poetry and motivational talks to speak out against gender based violence, in a country where statistics indicate that two out of three women will experience some form of gender based violence in their lifetime. 

Statistics in Chobe are not any better, indicating that Gender Based Violence (GBV) is also a cause for concern in the area. There were 112 cases recorded for common assault in the year 2014 in Chobe. “In January alone, we already have 91 cases on record,” Constable Kesegofetse Keitumetse of Kasane Police said. 

Const. Keitumetse, who is also a focal person for gender based violence in the district, noted that these cases are often alcohol related. “When it is around month-end especially with gigs at the local club, that is when cases of assault increase and women are often on the receiving end,” she noted.

Cases involving assault occasioning actual bodily harm have gone down over the past three years as there were 39 on record in 2012, and 32 in 2013 with 2014 recording 14 cases. Similarly cases of threats to kill are on the rise with the years 2012 and 2013 recording four cases each and 2014 standing at nine. 

Const. Keitumetse said that as the police they also do some form of counseling with victims of gender based violence especially highlighting the importance of reporting these cases. 

Risk groups such as sex workers are often exposed to GBV. “They are susceptible to rape,” she said adding that they encourage them to report these cases as they are treated with utmost confidentiality. She noted that some of those involved in the trade are very young. “When schools close, we get a lot of students who practice sex work, but we try to engage them and explain the consequences of exposing themselves to such especially at a young age,” she explained.

Const. Keitumetse also said they liaise with Tebelopele Voluntary counseling and testing centre to have access to sex workers as Tebelopele already has projects targeting that group. 

“However sometimes we have cases involving sex workers where a client refuses to pay, then the sex workers reports that as rape,” she said adding that upon further investigation they eventually find out that there was consensual intercourse. 

However murder cases continue to rise as the year 2012 had one case of murder, 2013 had two cases while 2014 had four murder cases on record with three of the four being females. 

A testimony by one Tshepiso Ketlogetswe painted a picture of the devastation and reality of gender based violence. She narrated how seven years ago she had a misunderstanding with her then boyfriend and they ended up breaking up. “One day when I was walking from the mall, he hid behind the bushes and attacked me. He hit me and kicked my private parts violating me and having his way with me,” she said.

She was so disfigured by the incident that she had to use crutches and a wheel chair for more than two years. “I even had tubes in my urinal area because I was unable to control my bladder,” she said. Through her faith, she was eventually healed after being unable to move on her own for years. “I used to pray along with Prophet T.B Joshua and that is how I started to regain my life,” she said adding that her recovery was through the grace of God.

Ketlogetswe advised women to place their trust in God and to communicate if they are having issues with their spouses. 

One Billion Rising campaign (Botswana) was a collaborative initiative by the Department of Gender affairs, District Aids Coordination office, Tebelopele Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre, Botswana National Youth Council, Peace-corps volunteers and other stakeholders. ENDS