08 Dec 2013

Despite its record as a peaceful nation and the values that the country attaches to dignity of individuals, it was shocking to note that about two thirds of women in Botswana have reportedly been abused in their lives.

US Ambassador to Botswana said this when briefing the media during the trans-boundary student exchange programme between Botswana and Zimbabwean youth at Tachila Nature Reserve on  December 4. Ms Michelle Gavin was in the company of her counterpart in Zimbabwe, Mr Bruce Wharton and deputy assistant secretary of State for African affairs, Dr Shannon Smith.

She noted that any conversation with young people cannot end without them stating that they were under pressure to have sexual relations or had been exploited sexually by old people. About 29 per cent of women in Botswana have experienced intimate partner violence in a year, she said. Ms Gavin mentioned that if one has experienced violence as a child they were likely to be victims or perpetrators of gender based violence.

She noted that a recent survey on risky behaviours among young people in schools showed that 13 per cent of them, especially girls had experienced sexual violence in the form of non-consensual sex.

The ambassador said that it was an individual’s responsibility to report rape, inappropriate relationships between old people and minors. “We don’t have to keep quite when we see a bruise in our friend’s face,” she said. Ms Gavin also highlighted that gender based violence was a foreign policy priority for the US government as it believed that development was good for the prosperity of the United States of America.

During the 16 days of activism against Gender -Based Violence (GBV),Ambassador Gavin explained that they have been active and donated to Kagisano shelter for victims of abuse.

“We want to inject this issue into the national dialogue and remove the stigma associated with speaking about gender based violence,” she said.

For his part, the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Bruce Wharton said that a lot of people were wrong to assume that gender based violence was a woman’s issue. “This issue affects men and they perpetuate it, it affects all of us as we are part of the cycle. We are talking about our wives, girlfriends, spouses, sisters and mothers,” he added. ENDS