05 Nov 2020

A dedicated gender and child protection unit to be established within the Botswana Police Service (BPS) will be operational next year.

This was revealed by BPS deputy commissioner of operations, Ms Dinah Marathe during a three-day capacity building workshop on the role of law enforcement in responding to gender-based violence (GBV) in Francistown on Wednesday.

Ms Marathe said the unit would deal with, among others, domestic violence and sexual offences relating to children.

She said BPS priority was to ensure that all GBV cases were reported, perpetrators arrested and brought to book, adding that the feat would be possible through strict enforcement of the relevant legislation.

Furthermore, she said BPS would continue to prioritise capacity building and improve on response time  and case-handling processes, which encompassed investigation to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness of prevention strategies.

Ms Marathe stated that BPS had specific intervention and improvement areas aimed at addressing GBV such as undertaking vigorous campaigns against the vice, citing Pitso ya Borre, which targeted both possible victims and would be perpetrators.

“We cannot win GBV battle without involvement of men, hence it is vital that we include them in all the campaigns,” she said.

Additionally, the deputy commissioner said the police were also piloting child-friendly centres in Gaborone to ensure a conducive environment for interviewing children and the development of standard operating procedures to establish  a standard process or response mechanism in dealing with  GBV reports.

Ms Marathe observed that a coordinated and multi-sectoral approach remained an effective technique to tackling GBV.

She appealed to all to utilise  the support of critical players such as courts, prison department, healthcare practitioners and social service providers.

Giving the objectives of the workshop,  BPS’ head of biology forensic science laboratory, Ms Goitseone Ngono said it was aimed at assessing law enforcement response to GBV.

She said the workshop would equip police officers with the necessary skills on mechanisms for handling GBV cases and also to improve on giving feedback to victims.

Ms Ngono also said the capacity- building workshop was meant to strengthen capabilities of critical role players in the fight against GBV and with knowledge of differentiating GBV cases from the rest.

“We are also here to develop relationships with critical stakeholders,” said Ms Ngono.

For his part, divisional criminal investigating officer, Mr Kutlwano Eanya said the workshop would assist with day-to-day operations and enhance service rendered to clients in relation to GBV reports.

He therefore urged all participants to take heed of the deliberations and share the message with their colleagues as it would go a long way in curbing  GBV in the country. ENDS