11 Sep 2024

Every member of the society is obliged to immediately report all forms of gender based violence (GBV) so that the law can protect survivors, says Sergeant Thatayaone Lewanika from Maun Police Station’s Gender and Child Protection Unit.

She said reporting GBV allowed survivors to access support services and minimise the impact of violence on their lives. She made the remarks when presenting on GBV and drug abuse statistics in North West District, during Men and Boys Pitso that was organised by Botswana Faith based Organisations Network on HIV/AIDS and Health Promotion (BOFABONETHA) at Moeti kgotla on Tuesday.

She said GBV was a serious concern among men, women and children but men were still dragging their feet to report such incidents because they would rather suffer in silence instead of seeking assistance for fear of  embarrassment.

Sergeant Lewanika said the unit recorded a high number of incidents of defilement, rape, sexual assault and murder among others and majority of the victims were women and children.

“From January to date, we have registered 63 rape and 62 defilement cases. This is worrisome because we have observed that some parents do not report defilement out of fear of loss of economic support by the abuser,” she said and warned that failure to report was an offence.

Sergeant Lewanika said that drug accessibility in the country was disturbing. She said police recently arrested some suspects in possession of bags of drugs at Makalamabedi cordon gate. She noted that consumption of drugs and substance abuse exacerbated GBV, and in some cases resulted in murder.

Maun Prison officer in charge, Senior Superintendent Maikutlo Kwafela said parents should care for and guide their children so that  they turned out to be responsible people. He informed the gathering that there was a boys’ prison which was not meant to be punitive but they were ensuring that the offender was rehabilitated through psychosocial treatment, education and training in various skills.

He said the intention was to change offenders into new persons who could take care of themselves after the release from prison and eventually provide for their families utilizing the trade skills that they learnt while incarcerated.

The event brought together faith based organizations, non-governmental organizations, government officers, and the community to engage in a dialogue on fostering a society free of GBV as well as to encourage men to prioritize their health and well-being.

Outlining the objectives of the pitso, project manager from BOFABONETHA, Mr Comfort Philime said they wanted to give men a platform to discuss and share challenges they faced and come up with solutions.

He said reports had indicated men were taking the lead in issues of GBV as perpetrators, some were victims but preferred to be silent and that they access health care less than women. ENDS