12 Mar 2020

 Former Lobatse mayor, Ms Rosemary Bosilong, says some cultural practices deprive women the right to education, thus denying them an  opportunity to earn decent income.

Speaking on March 11 during International Women’s Day commemoration in Good Hope, Ms Bosilong stated that culture played a role in social and economic disparities between men and women.

She indicated that some girls were forced into early marriage and women were not allowed to occupy powerful positions with the belief that they were incapable. 

She said the situation ultimately subjected women to poverty since they were dependent on men. 

“Today we are celebrating the fight that we have put up over the past years. However, we still have a lot to achieve. It is saddening that 52 per cent of the population in Botswana are women and the rest are men but men still dominate in the political space,” she added. 

Ms Bosilong said women were not occupying powerful positions despite government declaring that they must be endorsed. 

Senior gender officer in Good Hope Sub-district, Ms Neo Lepokane, said laws had been amended with the view to empowering women and there had been new developments over the years such as women occupying positions and pursuing professions that were known to be for men. 

“We want to see women having had achieved a lot by 2036.” She said. 

On issues concerning gender based violence, Sergeant, Dimakatso Metswinyane of Botswana Police Service stated that they were worried by false reports of abuse brought before police by women. 

She advised women to treat their partners with respect and refrain from infidelity tendencies and to stop using toxic words towards men. 

Sergeant Metswinyane encouraged men to rid off the mentality that they were being ridiculed by police officers when they reported abuse. 

She expressed concern over GBV issues reported by women, only to be withdrawn during investigations on the grounds that the perpetrators were bread winners. 

She noted that since January, Good Hope police station recorded nine cases of rape two which were marital rape. 

She also said they recorded 11 defilement cases; three murder cases of which one victim was a man. ends