Botswana’s worsening gender-based violence (GBV) crisis has drawn sharp criticism from international diplomats with some accusing President Duma Boko and his government of relying on rhetoric, prayer meetings and public relations while women continue to die in alarming numbers.
This emerges from a newly released United Kingdom fact-finding mission report titled ‘Country Policy and Information Note; Botswana: Women fearing gender-based violence.’ The report which was released by UK’s Home Office paints a picture of frustration among diplomats, civil society organisations and international partners over Botswana Government’s handling of GBV.
The report reveals growing concern that despite the new administration presenting itself as human-rights centred, there has been little meaningful action to protect women since taking power in October 2024.
‘But since the election [of the government in October 2024] there have been executive/high level statements that have been perceived by CSOs as discouraging, a bad signal,’ a diplomat at the French embassy in Gaborone was quoted as saying in the report.
‘ The statements are usually made in conferences but then are plastered in the media. OFFICIAL 1 [noted the president] made a declaration about GBV that was perceived as putting the blame on women,’ says the report.
‘There is strong rhetoric but not much political will and there haven’t been any substantive changes to legislation,’ one international diplomatic source told the UK mission.
The diplomat said Botswana continued to grapple with deeply entrenched patriarchy despite the new government’s promises.
‘The government portray themselves as a human-rights based government, saying they want to put human rights at the centre of everything that they do. But Botswana is still a patriarchal society which is quite conservative,’ the source is quoted s saying in the report.
Another international diplomatic source dismissed government efforts as inadequate and symbolic.
‘Last week the country had a week of prayer organised by the government against GBV,’ the diplomat said.
The diplomat was quoted as saying; ‘I am Christian, I believe in prayer, but more is needed than just holding hands and praying. I don’t see any tangible change. I do not see that the government intends to change things.’
The report comes amid growing public anger over brutal killings of women and mounting calls from activists for GBV to be declared a national emergency.
A United Nations official interviewed during the fact-finding mission said frustration with government silence had reached dangerous levels following a wave of rape and murder cases during the 2024 festive season.
‘People had been demanding to see the president [speak about] the situation of GBV in this country. Unfortunately for the political leadership, in the general sense, the public is getting a bit frustrated. The president also made some unfortunate remarks [about GBV] recently; There was a public outcry to say that this is not on and that we need to declare this thing a national emergency,’ the UN official was quoted s saying.
The diplomat reportedly added that ‘Unfortunately, there was a lot of silence from the government side, and people were frustrated that even the minister of gender was quiet.’
The official further criticised remarks made by Boko during the height of the outrage, saying they triggered backlash from civil society groups.
According to the report, Boko reportedly said he did not understand why people were talking specifically about GBV because Botswana was generally a violent society involving ‘men, women and children’.
‘That also attracted a lot of public outcry,’ the UN official noted.
Civil society organisations have since intensified pressure on government to formally declare GBV a national emergency to unlock resources and fast-track interventions.
‘There was a meeting of CSOs about two weeks ago where they were strategizing about approaching the presidency,’ the official said.
‘The reasoning is that when we declare a national emergency, then you’ll allocate the necessary resources.’
The report also reiterated concerns raised by officials at Embassy of France in Botswana who described Botswana’s GBV crisis as severe and worsening.
French embassy officials cited the shocking murder of a woman inside the University of Botswana as evidence of the growing danger women face.
‘There was a woman killed inside of the University of Botswana which was quite shocking- that a person would go and kill inside a university, a sacred place,’ one French official said.
The diplomat noted reports that the victim had allegedly been subjected to threats before her death.
‘Usually for serious incidents a minister would go to the scene of the incident but we have not seen this, which speaks to how seriously this is being taken,’ the official said.
Despite increased media coverage under the new government, diplomats warned that there was still little concrete progress beyond speeches and symbolic gestures.
‘The government is really big on human rights,’ a French official said adding that ‘….Would expect women’s rights to be part of human rights.’
But the official added: ‘Nothing really happened afterwards-there was a week of prayers organised rather than something concrete to address the issue.’
The report quoted the official as saying the woman murdered at the University of Botswana was killed during the government’s anti-GBV week of prayer.
Boko’s press secretary Emang Bokhutlo-Mutapati did not respond to request for comment.