The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) says it is worried about the escalating cases of gender based violence (GBV), many with fatal consequences.

BCP Secretary for Labour and gender, Daisy Bathusi said just in one week, seven people, including one man, fell victim to the so-called passion killings.

“This is shocking, especially since research has demonstrated that for every single case of GBV reported, there are five more out there unreported. This alarming state of affairs calls to question the effectiveness of all intervention strategies that have been deployed to combat this menace,” Bathusi told The Monitor on Sunday. She said they believe that there is no political will from those entrusted with women’s wellbeing to combat GBV.

She said lately they observed luxurious spending on pet projects when resources are not availed to protect women.

She said the country has focussed more on treating symptoms as opposed to the disease itself.

In addition, she thought they knew that their challenges with GBV emanate from socialisation and cultural beliefs, which invariably impact behavioural traits, premise, and focus on dealing with GBV primarily being on remedial as opposed to preventative action.

She said there is also reluctance by government to declare GBV a crisis and therefore deserving of special interventions and resources.

She continued: “Concerted efforts by the Botswana government should be visible and practical. No more lip service and ticking the boxes without any tangible outputs. At the very least, we demand a budget and programmes that demonstrate the commitment to the cause.” The BCP spokesperson noted that instead of elevating the visibility of gender issues, the Ministry of Gender was relocated under that of Youth and Culture with very little increase in the budget.

Bathusi said the ministry responsible for gender affairs recently gambled with P61 million in a bid book to host the 2027 AFCON games.

She said this demonstrated just how little government regards women’s lives in this country, underpinning the saying ‘putting your money where your mouth is’.

She said government’s flippant attitude is further highlighted in the attention given to sexual harassment, which is a low end on GBV but one area where preventative action against GBV can be premised.

The gender expert said this reluctance to view the fight against sexual harassment as a possible panacea to ending GBV is counterproductive posturing in this war against the scourge.

With that regard, she said some of the red flags are that government has not rectified and domesticated ILO Convention 190, whose primary objective is to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace; the government has not domesticated the SADC protocol on gender and development which was signed in 2017, and the right to safety and security as a second generational right is not entrenched in the Constitution. Further adding that as a Party, they demand women’s constitutional rights to protection and security and a comprehensive allocation to GBV interventions in the upcoming supplementary budget.

She said the preservation of women’s lives and instilling women’s rights to coexist as citizens of this republic without fear is paramount. She said, “A safe woman is a better Botswana!”

The ministry responsible for gender affairs recently gambled with P61 million in a bid book to host the 2027 AFCON games