28 Nov 2021

Women worldwide are abused be it physically, emotionally or financially; hence the need for them to report gender based violence cases.

Former mayor of Francistown, Ms Sylvia Muzila said this at a one-day Big Black Women Gender Based Violence (GBV) sensitization workshop in Francistown on Saturday.

Ms Muzila said women had sacrificed themselves a lot and it was now time for them to act against gender based violence.

She said cases of GBV were increasing at an alarming rate in Botswana.

Ms Muzila attributed the increase to the withdrawal of GBV cases from courts by women, and urged women to leave such matters to courts to determine the punishment.

She explained that though GBV affected all women, those mostly affected were married women or those with fulltime life partners.

Ms Muzila, who is also the former district commissioner for Francistown, said children should also be taught about GBV issues.

She called on the church as a unifying factor to join forces in the fight against GBV.

On mental health and depression, a GBV activist, Ms Charlotte Ruwana said depression if not controlled at an early stage could lead to death, as it could affect someone emotionally, physically and mentally.

The workshop is part of the 16 days of Activism against GBV campaign launched in Shakawe on Thursday. ENDS