New child-friendly facility records several rape cases
Defilement, rape and child neglect cases still high Centre helps accelerate turn-around time of cases
The child-friendly facility located at Broadhurst Police Station in Gaborone has already recorded over 100 reported cases with 40 having been concluded, since it was established last year.
Discrimination and violation of children in Botswana remains a contentious issue and the child-friendly facility is anticipated to be the first of many to be established across the country.
Through the facility, children’s cases are automatically prioritised in the courts and by social workers. The pilot project is registering great success, indicating that more Batswana are reporting cases of gender-based violence and child violation, and that cases of child abuse are still rampant in the country.
A source at the facility that spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that since the pilot facility started, scores of people are reporting cases.
“It is clear that some people were not comfortable with reporting in normal police stations. Before, children were forced to speak in the open in front of people and it made them uncomfortable.
“This centre has been designed in a way that the environment is private and children are attended to by individuals with expertise in dealing with children.
“The success of the project is also due to continued good working relationship between stakeholders – we are working closely with hospitals, schools and other police stations, who bring cases here for reporting and to instigate investigations. In situations where cases do not fall within our jurisdiction, they are transferred to other agencies.”
Records at the facility indicate that defilement, rape and child neglect, continue to be the leading cases among those reported.
Solomon Mantswe of the Botswana Police has indicated that by last month, 76 cases had been reported and 38 out of these had already been concluded before court.
In other cases, children are involved in the processes of the justice system not only as victims but also as witnesses or involved in the justice process, such as in cases of child maintenance and child custody arrangements”.
Access to child-friendly justice systems has been a pressing matter for Botswana over the years, with concerns that police facilities do not create an environment conducive for children, which can intimidate or overwhelm them.
Prior to establishing this child-friendly facility, national stakeholders including Botswana Police, Children’s Consultative Forum, as well as the Departments of Public Prosecutions and Social Protection collaborated through capacitation workshops to devise strategic ways to improve justice for children in Botswana.
Botswana is signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), although the Convention does not take precedence over national law nor is it directly applicable in the national courts.
On the backdrop of being a signatory, Government recognised that the domestic law should be interpreted in light of the CRC, and stipulates for cases to be brought through a child’s representative with the support of a lawyer, to lodge complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman and to utilise a legal aid programme under which children and their representatives can apply for free legal assistance.