29 Jan 2019

A headman of arbitration in Kasane, Mr Kenneth Marambo, has condemned domestic violence perpetrators, saying their actions create a violent and aggressive society.

In an interview, Mr Marambo said violence on women and children was the most commonly reported crime.

He, however, did not rule out the existence of abuse on men especially emotional abuse.

He said one of the major causes of domestic violence was cohabitation.

“The penal code of our country is clear when it comes to cohabitation,.It does not recognise it. So I urge the youth and all Batswana to avoid moving in together before marriage,” he stressed.

Kgosi Marambo said men should protect both women and children because they were regarded as vulnerable, adding that even the Bible stated that a man was the head of the family.

Being the head, he said, came up with the man’s responsibility to love and protect his wife and children at all times.

He said children who witnessed violence, abuse and negligence were bound to perform poorly academically, while some were even left traumatised, leading to them copying the same kind of behaviour.

Kgosi Marambo said abuse could become a generational cycle since the behavior passed from one generation to the next.

He pleaded with abusive men to end that behavior for Botswana to be a peaceful and caring nation.

He said some passion killings were caused by unreported domestic violence cases since perpetrators got used to and became comfortable with their wrong behaviour.

He said for the nation to win the fight against domestic violence, abused people should report such offences on time for the offenders to be brought to justice and get some help.

Kgosi Marambo urged men, who were victims of domestic violence, to use social workers because they were well equipped to assist. ENDS