13 Jul 2022

Dikgosi have been advised to understand the root cause of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in order to help them to address such cases.

Speaking during the GBV training workshop for Dikgosi in Kanye on Tuesday, Hukuntsi Deputy Tribal Secretary, Ms Mpho Mantswe said GBV was growing in incidence and complexity, noting that it was fuelled by different factors such as negative cultural norms and practices hence the need to find a solution.

Ms Mantswe indicated that the workshop organised by the Department of Tribal Administration in collaboration with UNDP provided an opportunity for Dikgosi to share views on different aspects of GBV, causes and consequences as well as what could be done to address such issues.

“The aim is to capacitate Dikgosi in order for them to build peaceful communities,” she added.

She further said GBV was viewed differently by people in society, which led to some perpetrators engaging in it unknowingly. 

She said in some instances, society treated genders differently, which might lead to GBV unknowingly.

Amidst the growing numbers of GBV, she said most of them go unreported as society considers a lot of different factors such as the perpetrator being the breadwinner. “Some would feel that families would suffer when the breadwinner is incarcerated,” Ms Mantswe said.

Francistown Court president, Mr Gunny Moses indicated that GBV was usually an undermining or hurtful behaviour against an individual based on their socially prescribed gender roles, expectations and norms.

He further said GBV often left lifelong physical and emotional scars on victims and sometimes resulted in death.

Mr Moses highlighted that even though men and boys were usually regarded as perpetrators, they were also critical change agents in GBV prevention and response efforts.

He said because of societal expectations of men and boys, most of them failed to report GBV cases and ended up resorting to different actions such as killing themselves or perpetrators.

Francistown Court President informed the attendants that there were different types of GBV such as sexual, psychological, economic and physical violence.

He said there was lack of skills in dikgotla on record keeping of GBV reports, hence there were no national indicators of such cases, adding that it, therefore, made it near impossible to address the issues without indicators which would give guidance.

For his part, Administration Officer at Tribal Administration Headquarters, Mr Biggy Matshameko said GBV consequences included sexually transmitted diseases, emotional and psychological consequences such as guilt and shame as well as stigmatisation, where maybe a child was born out of rape.

“Some people end up having reduced ability to participate in social and economic issues,” he said.

He said some of the root causes of GBV were marital conflicts, norms granting men control over women, acceptance of violence as a way of resolving conflicts, witnessing violence as a child as well as alcohol and drug abuse.

Bangwaketse Senior Chief Representative, Kgosi Kwelagobe Mookodi informed other dikgosi that it was vital for them to take a meaningful part in the training as that would assist them in successfully addressing GBV cases in their respective areas.

He further appealed to the attendants to pass the knowledge acquired from training to those who failed to attend.

Some of Dikgosi attributed the rising number of GBV cases to changes in cultural ways, which they said made their jobs of resolving such cases difficult.

They believed that Botswana Police Service could have been part of the training since most of the cases were handled by them and magistrates courts.

They also said it was important for the communities to be educated on GBV issues. Ends