28 Nov 2018

United Nations Women Gender Specialist, Ms Magdeline Madibela says for far too long, impunity, silence and stigma have allowed violence against women to escalate to pandemic proportions.

Giving a keynote address at the Ministry of Health and Wellness Commemoration of the 16 Days to end Gender Based Violence against Women and Girls, Ms Madibela said one in three women experience violence in their lifetime, across all social status, class, race, country or age group.

The theme of this year’s commemoration is #Orange the World, HearMeToo.

She said that according to United Nations, ‘it is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives.’

“According to Botswana Gender Based Violence (GBV) Indicators Study, 67 per cent of women in Botswana have experienced some form of gender violence in their lifetime, including partner and non-partner violence,” she said.

Ms Madibela observed that only 1.2 per cent of Batswana women report cases of GBV to the police, adding that the proportion of men admitting to having perpetrated violence against women stands at 44 per cent.

She also said that 23 per cent of all the women interviewed said they had sexual harassment at school, work, in public transport or when visiting healers.

Ms Madibela said that nearly 29 per cent experienced violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the 12 months as per the prevalence survey that formed the flagship research tool to this study and in contrast 1.2 per cent of women reported cases of GBV to the police in the same period.
“Thus, the prevalence of GBV reported in the survey is 24 times higher than that reported to the police,” she said, adding that this suggested that levels of GBV were far higher than those recorded in official statistics.

She said the extent of violence against women was still not known due to the fear of reprisal, impact of not being believed and the stigma.

This, he added, had silenced the voices of millions of survivors of violence and masked the true extent of women’s continued horrific experiences.

She urged the world to have a comprehensive response to the problem that would enable all to get the truth that would ensure that there was accountability.

He added that the response should ensure that there was sustainable transformation so that women and girls could live in a world where they could not experience any violence.

Ms Madibela said women and girls in many parts of the world had their voices muzzled and she encouraged all to make sure that they bring change and end the culture that normalises the abuse of women and girls.

For her part, Ministry of Health and Wellness deputy permanent secretary - Corporate Services, Ms Hazel Reaitsanye said the event signified the struggle of government and other stakeholders in continuing to fight GBV to curb and silence the stigma and shame associated with human and sexual rights violation.

Ms Reaitsanye said that Botswana was committed to the implementation of global initiatives geared towards the inclusion of gender analysis and joint strategic and operational planning in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She noted that ‘SDG 5 urges countries to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,’ citing that target 5.2 specifically requires countries to come up with strategies to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation.

“Gender equality is a fundamental and inviolable human right and in this regard, empowering and protecting women and children is essential to expand individual growth, promote good health and social development, including enhanced rights and responsibilities,’ said Ms Reaitsanye.

She highlighted that investing in women had proven to produce double dividend, which ultimately benefits the entire family and the nation, adding that it was pivotal to the health and social development of the country.

Ms Reaitsanye noted that Botswana remained committed to improving the health of adolescent girls and young women by strengthening provision of comprehensive sexuality education for all adolescents including expansion of youth friendly health services nationally.

Furthermore, she said that Botswana was in the process of finalising the adoption of WHO Clinical Health Handbook for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence to guide on the care for such women.

National men sector coordinator at the Department of Gender Affairs, Mr Nonofo Leteane, said the objectives of the day were to attract all Batswana to be active participants in the fight against abuse of women and children and ensure mass mobilisation of all communities to promote collective responsibility in the fight to end gender based violence.

Another objective, he said aimed at actively engaging men and boys in the discourse about combating violence in the homes, communities and the workplace. Ends