‘MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO END GBV’

Violence against women and children remains the most prevalent human rights violations in Botswana and there is still more to be done in ending the scourge, it has been observed. Panellists made these remarks during a discussion hosted by Men and Boys for Gender Equality in collaboration with the British High Commission and Women Against Rape as part of the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence (GBV) which is underway. The topic for discussion was the Sex Offenders’ Registry Bill that the country is in the process of finalising to put in place policies and laws both in Botswana and in the United Kingdom that are meant to curb GBV. Panellists pointed out women and girls continue to suffer violence at the hands of men, something that calls for more intervention. Gender Links country manager, Onnetse Makhumalo said recently the reports of GBV have risen, something that shows that the country is faced with a problem and it might mean that their awareness campaigns are bearing fruit, as victims are coming out to report cases of GBV.

“Cases of GBV are escalating and this shows that we have a problem as a country and we have to join hands in ending this scourge. There is need for a holistic approach in responding to GBV and multiple stakeholder engagement is key,” she said.

“There are interventions in responding to GBV, but one can say the reports are high because the message is clear and people are coming out. However, there is a need to come up with the root cause.” British High Commissioner to Botswana, Sian Price said the underlying causes of GBV that provide the trigger or make the situation worse is something that needs to be looked into in addressing the scourge. These include and not limited to what happened during lockdowns when people were forced to spend most of the time together. Price stated that those were stressful situations as many people were not used to spending more time with their families. However, she said that should not be misconstrued as an excuse for GBV. “But we do find that when people are stressed, have economic concerns, drink excessively, spend too much time in a confined space, those pressures usually manifest in that way,” Price said. “Everything needs to improve on how we combat GBV globally, it needs long-term efforts, we can’t afford to relax on any elements in responding to GBV. We should look into provision of services to those affected and look at how we prosecute the perpetrators. ”Attorney Phadza Molebatsi said the issue that the country might not be getting right is that it tends to focus more on GBV issues after they occur. He stated that there is need for the government to be involved, NGOs to deal with being preempting rather than to deal with GBV after it has occurred.He said the problem could be that something needs to be looked into, introspect and see what really needs to be done.

“I think there is a lot of growth for improvement in combating GBV like looking at how we implement some of the policies we have and the laws. We may have the laws, but if we do not implement them they may not serve us at all or not serve to the extent they really should,” Molebatsi said.He gave an example of the Children’s Act, which is yet to be implemented. GBV activist and founder of Max Foundation, Malebogo Molefe said as worrisome as the problem is she was unable to pick out what contributes to the issues.She attributed this to attitudes, how people perceive relationships, and how they internalise and interpret them. “People may be angry and how they take out that anger also is a big issue as to how it contributes to GBV. Also we can look at social cultural norms and practices. These are issues where at family level or community on how they contribute to these issues,” she said. “People are failing to report GBV, when people see an act of violence happening, do they see it as something that they need to report or speak against? Because they keep quiet they will be promoting the problem.”