Botswana: The Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture (MYSC), through the Gender Department in Francistown and the Sowa Town Council, held a closing ceremony for the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) annually launched on the 25th of November.
Sowa Town participated in the international campaign aimed at eliminating Violence against Women and children. The event kicked off with a walk led by His Worship, the Mayor of Sowa, Honorable Olifant Mfa, where women, men and children, clad in orange, marched to end GBV in Botswana.
Held under the theme, “Unite to end GBV Now”, Sowa’s community showed support and solidarity for women’s rights, as the town is exemplary with low cases of GBV.
In his keynote address said, Hon Mfa said the law must be tightened to deter GBV related crimes. “Law enforcement should be given the powers because to gather like this yearly, without constraining laws, thwarts efforts of the campaign, and our problems will stack up,” the mayor said.
He said the same spirit of how cattle theft has been tackled in the country is proportionate to the needed efforts towards bringing an end to GBV.
Concerning the figures of crimes against women and girls, this year, Sowa has recorded 20 cases of assault against women, a drop from the 38 cases in 2021.
According to statistics provided by the Sowa Town chief of police, Constable Kgalaleo Paul, the town recorded one threat to kill case in the previous year.