Botswana
President addresses violence against women

Botswana Gazette / afrol.com, 10 November - Achieving gender equality and empowerment of women remains "uppermost in government development strategies" Botswana President Festus Mogae told a packed Parliament on Monday during his state of the nation address. 

However, Mogae also said that significant advances had been made noting that: "About thirty percent of our permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries posts are held by women. There has been considerable improvements in the representation of women at senior positions in the private sector as well." 

Nearly 20% of the members of Parliament were now women, together with almost a quarter of the cabinet. Mogae nevertheless stressed that much more needed to be done, particularly to eliminate violence against women. 

Expanding on the subject of crime he said crime is a security threat and a disincentive to investment, productivity, development and social harmony. "Fighting crime is a challenge that we must face unflinchingly. The country continues to face escalating crime despite the concerted efforts by the police and the public in crime prevention campaigns. 

- Crime of specific concern include offences targeted at women, such as rape, domestic violence, and defilement of girls under 16 years of age, incest by males, and so on, Mogae stated. According to independent sources, the police rarely are called to intervene in cases of domestic violence. However, reports of sexual exploitation, abuse, and criminal sexual assault are increasing, and public awareness of the problem generally is growing. The national police force thus has begun training officers in handling domestic violence problems to make them more responsive in such cases.

This group of offences has become even more worrisome because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The risk of this deadly virus being transmitted during these cruel attacks on innocent people is very high," said Mogae. 

In 1998 Parliament enacted legislation that increased all penalties for rape, incest, and other forms of sexual assault by imposing minimum sentencing requirements where none existed previously. The minimum sentence for rape is now 10 years, with the minimum increasing to 15 years with corporal punishment if the offender is HIV positive and to 20 years with corporal punishment if the offender knew of his or her HIV status.

Independent sources, however, maintain that women's rights are not taken seriously enough by Government officials. Under customary law and in common rural practice, men still have the right to "chastise" their wives. Human rights activists estimate that 6 women in 10 are victims of domestic violence at some time in their lives. Half the murders of women were linked to histories of domestic violence. 

Based on an article in Misanet.com / The Botswana Gazette by Ditso Anneleng

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