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The protesters urged the President to ensure that Botswana becomes a country safe for women and girls. "We are deeply concerned about the thousands of Batswana women who are victims of gender-based violence and alarmed by the escalating incidences of femicide in Botswana," the national executive director of Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Loatile Seboni said. She said the march expressed the pain and sorrow they felt as the nation continues to lose mothers and daughters of the soil through gender based violence. "Killing our daughters, is killing the nation and it must come to an end," she said. Seboni implored the government to develop a Domestic Violence Act and a Sexual Offences Act which will prevent violence and sexual harassment. She called for the training and raising awareness of the population, including ministers, parliamentarians, councillors, community and church leaders, the media and law enforcement officers on the issue of gender-based violence. Accepting the petition, Mogae said that he was saddened by the incidents of violence. He said that when growing up, it was unheard of to raise a hand against a woman. He said doing that would turn one into a laughing stock. Mogae said Batswana are not known to be violent. The President was accompanied by ministers, MPs and other government officials. He said that they would look into the issue. He reiterated Seboni's sentiments that indeed killing women is killing the nation. Baboloki Tlale of BOCONGO urged Mogae to address the issue of passion killings with the same vigour he does with HIV/AIDS. He said the civil society is concerned about the problem and there is no simple solution. He suggested that Mogae start a national debate so that a solution may be found to the calamity.
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