07 May 2018

Botswana Police Service (BPS) public relations officer, Mr Dipheko Motube has expressed concern about the increasing number of date and drug-facilitated rape cases in the country.

Date rape, which is a form of ‘acquaintance rape’, refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between the two parties while drug facilitated rape occurs when alcohol or drugs are intentionally used to compromise an individual’s ability to consent to sexual activity.

In an interview with BOPA, Mr Motube said in most cases social media was a facilitator for the two types of rapes, explaining that the perpetrators use social media to lure their unsuspecting victims to nightclubs or homes, where most victims at the time fall prey to the traps.

Mr Motube revealed that statistics show 2 047 rape related cases countrywide in 2017 alone, an increase of 31 cases from 2016, noting that most cases were date and drug facilitated rape.

He said most rape cases involved people who knew each other or were romantically involved.

Mr Motube however indicated that rape cases in 2012 were slightly lower than 2017, while they increased in 2015, noting that in the last five years since 2012,  2 163 rape related cases were reported.

He said rape cases were not easy to prosecute due to lost evidence or lack of witnesses to corroborate the victims’ statement, adding however that the police try by all means to assist victims of date rape or drug-facilitated rape to convict the perpetrators.

“We sometimes fail to secure a conviction due to lack of evidence or witnesses, but forensic science is another alternative the BPS use to help the victims of rape,” he said.

He asked women to take heed of advice by the police and try at all times not to be lured by strangers to nightclubs or outings or be persuaded through social media.

Mr Motube also urged men not to take advantage of intoxicated women and to respect women’s sexual choices at all times to avoid trouble with the law. ENDS