24 Nov 2019

Mainstream society has realised the need to fight gender based violence (GBV) very late despite the fact that the scourge had always existed, says renowned gender activist Ms Keabonye Ntsabane. 

Ms Ntsabane of Keabonye Ntsabane Gender Based Violence Trust was speaking at Ramotswa kgotla recently during a police event to mobilise the community in the fight against sexual offences and road accidents. 

She said at first, the fight against GBV was left to non-governmental organisations as other stakeholders were too conservative to openly address the issue. As a result, GBV found an opportunity for growth,  hence the need for more inclusive efforts to address the problem. 

Ms Ntsabane said even though government had responded through ratification of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which aimed at ending GBV by 2030 and legislation such as the Domestic Violence Act, there was need for more inclusive efforts. 

She emphasised the need to empower teachers, traditional leadership and parents in an effort to solve the problem. 

Ms Ntsabane said Botswana was still grappling with GBV cases in which women were mostly affected. 

Quoting the 2018 Botswana national relationship study, she said 37 per cent of women reported to have experienced violence in their lifetime as compared to 21 per cent of men. 

She further decried the fact that rape was one of the most common types of abuse that women and children were subjected to, either by known or unknown perpetrators. 

Ramotswa Police Station commander, Superintendent Keoagile Tau said rape continued to be a major problem in the area, adding that 29 cases were recorded in 2018 while 22 had been reported since January this year. Five cases of child molestation were recorded in 2018 as compared to the 15 already recorded this year, he said. 

The police chief expressed concern over the surge in the number of cases involving child molestation and called on parents to monitor their children’s movement as well as to ensure they always knew the whereabouts of their children. 

Another concern, Supt Tau said, was the increasing number of road accident fatalities, noting that last year 11 lives were lost while 12 people had already died this year. 

GaMalete senior chief representative Kgosi Motlhanka Mokgosi called on the community to join hands in the fight against abuse, road accidents and child molestation. The community working together could end GBV and road accidents, he said. ends