THE GBV TORMENT Botswana heavy-laden with Gender-Based Violence
Yet the costs of not doing anything are far greater than the costs of investing in GBV eradication
For especially women, it is not easy to leave a toxic relationship when one is economically disadvantaged. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivor Dinah Mokoko is living testimony that women and children still remain at the mercy of their abusers despite efforts in place to help in the fight against GBV.
“I stayed with this man for over 16 years, and it was never a good home. He would even beat me in front of our children. I only stayed because I thought I loved him,” Mokoko recounts her ordeal.
She escaped death many times at his hands. Neighbours knew the kind of life she lived but often looked away because they were scared of her partner.
“I have lived a life of hell, whenever I tried to hide at my mother’s home, he would follow and also beat me right there,” she says, addng that she had even given up on life and wished for death.
Programme Communications and Advocacy Officer at United Nations Botswana, Nchidzi Smarts observes that the consequences of violence need to be better communicated.
“Women and girls that suffer violence lose their self-esteem, their dignity, live in fear and pain and, unfortunately, in several cases pay with their life.
“The costs of not doing anything are far greater than the costs of investing in GBV eradication, therefore more should be done to fix the situation of violence in Botswana.”
Botswana has been fighting two pandemics of GBV and Covid-19 since the year 2020. According to Botswana Gender-Based and Violence Centre (BGBVC) GBV cases continue to escalate, with emotional abuse taking the lead, followed by sexual abuse.
In 2020 BGBVC recorded 302 cases of emotional abuse. This has risen to 989 this year. For sexual abuse, 48 cases were recorded in 2020 and 92 so far this year. Thirty-five (35) cases of physical abuse were recorded in 2020 and 17 this year.
Another victim of GBV, and renowned local artiste, Amantle Brown laments that GBV still exists despite efforts made to raise awareness about it.
She is still traumatised about what she experienced recently in a Chinese shop, where the shop owner beat up his wife just because he didn’t want to exchange an item but his wife was willing to.
“He snapped and beat her so badly in front of me and the staff, who admitted that he does that all the time whenever he is angry,” Brown says.
Senior Counsellor at BGBVC Kitso Motlhale tells The Midweek Sun that women experience more violence as compared to men.
They have observed that domestic violence is in some cases influenced by cohabitation, as couples stay many years together not married, and women often fail to leave these toxic relationships.
Similarly, such violence exists in some married couples, and women feel pressured not to leave the marriage. This is influenced by African culture which puts pressure on a woman when a marriage fails but fails to realise that staying sends women to early graves at the hands of their abusers.
She explains that even so, women get to visit shelters as their last resort when they see that their lives and children’s lives are in danger.
Shelter Manager at Women Against Rape (WAR), Gontle Samakabadi concurs that Covid has exposed GBV cases that were hidden from the public glare. She says that cases of intimate partner violence and defilement are high.
The Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAISV) IV research shows that due to GBV, the HIV infection rate is high among adolescent girls aged between 10 and 24, with the highest peak at 14-years old, while it is very low for boys within this age group.
“This translates that older men sexually manipulate young girls, just around puberty and after 25 years, the survey shows that HIV infection rate is high for men and low for women,” Samakabadi says.
They operated one centre in Maun before Covid and had to cater for people from as far as Shakawe, hence the decision to extend services to the Okavango region and set up offices in Gumare, Sehithwa, and Seronga.
“One serial rapist in Maun has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for two different cases. We applaud his arrest but are not happy with the sentence because he has violated so many people,” Samakabadi complains. She adds that the government should capitalise on a referral system so that everything runs smoothly. “GBV is complex and needs a multi-stakeholder approach to deliver services to everyone,” she says. BGBVC in partnership with Xavier Africa, Stepping
Stones International (SSI), WAR and Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) recently launched an AIpowered autonomous conversational agent (chatbot) on WhatsApp called AME, to help survivors get on-demand information, report abuse for evidence gathering and request psychosocial support. This tool is expected to help victims to report cases from their phones, and get assistance within 24 hours, according to the CEO of BGBVC Lorato Moalusi.