24 Oct 2022

The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) calls for action to be taken against parents who fail to report defilement cases.

Addressing Khwai residents recently, BONELA assistant project coordinator in Maun, Mr Arnold Sokwa said incidents of defilement were rampant in the village and it was worrying that cases were not reported as some parents’ victims chose to remain silent. 

Mr Sokwa said in some instances, the victims report such sexual abuse to parents, and their mothers would inform them not to utter a word on such an incident.

He said  BONELA had realised that there was no response from the police regarding the few number of cases reported, citing lack of transport as their main challenge.

Mr Sokwa revealed that the situation was disturbing because some victims needed to be examined to solidify evidence hence the need for the law enforcement agencies to intensify their investigations.

Lack of a clinic in the village, he said also exacerbated the situation as the residents were served through a mobile clinic and that could lead to evidence being destroyed.

He demanded justice for victims of sexual violence and urged relevant authorities to protect children.

“Action should be taken against suspects of sexual abuse and those who fail to protect children from such crime.

There is no way we can deter offenders when parents continue to protect them and it is painful as the girl child will be home nursing a child,” he said.

Mr Sokwa noted that  lack of a health facility also compromised villagers’ health care as they had to travel long distances to access services.

He appreciated efforts by the community trust to assist in collecting medication on behalf of the patients.

BONELA also raised a major concern about child negligence in Khwai, a remote village situated on the north bank of Khwai River, right at the heart of the Okavango Delta and the inhabitants are Basarwa who spend much of their time working under Ipelegeng programme while a few get absorbed into the tourism industry.

Mr Sokwa revealed that children were left under the care of their grandmothers while their parents hasd gone for jobs in the neaby villages.

The social worker, he said was burdened to assist children whose parents were able-bodied. Some elderly population, he said were also double-dipping as they benefited from the trust and government programmes such as destitute policy and pension.

He called on the trust to come up with a beneficiation plan which would outline eligible people to benefit from the trust.

He said  alcohol consumption was a challenge, noting that there were many shebeens in the village and some parents were spotted drinking with children during the day.

Meanwhile, BONELA’s purpose was to promote, protect and fulfill a human rights approach to health including HIV/AIDS and broader issues in Botswana through awareness raising, capacity building and advocacy. ENDs