Tutume records soaring defilement, rape cases
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday September 25, 2023 06:00
Addressing the TDC full council session recently, he said the district is faced with escalating social ills that range from gender-based violence (GBV) to sexual abuse of minors.
He said they have recorded 220 cases involving minors since 2017.
Kehitile alleged that out of the 220 cases registered, 196 occurrences of defilement, rape, and incest involving minor have been reported to the police.
“This includes 135 defilement and 60 rape cases respectively. Since 2017, the district also recorded six cases of negligence of children, seven cases of emotional abuse, and one incest and child abandonment case,” he added.
According to Kehitile, nine child custody disputes are reportedly at various stages of litigation. He emphasised that the cases are an indication of the moral decay that prevails in their communities and as a result, everyone must take part in correcting it.
He also stated that they continually use limited resources at their disposal to provide all the necessary assistance which include psycho-social support and other necessities while awaiting the disposal of such cases.
The TDC chairperson said it was past time for Botswana to think about setting up courts just for minors. He explained, “This is because cases frequently take a long time to be resolved due to the waiting list and as a result negatively impacts the victims thus delaying their healing and recovery.”
Kehitile stated that they have established Village Child Protection Committees (VCPC) in their communities, which are currently active in accordance with Section 33 of the Child Protection Act as an intervention to alleviate societal ills.
He said that they also host kgotla meetings to educate people about GBV and other prevalent social issues.
Meanwhile, Mahalapye District Council chairperson, Banthasetse Merementsi expressed similar concerns on the district’s increasing number of defilement cases.
During a recent full council meeting, Merementsi reported that Mahalapye district had eight cases registered in the previous month.
Merementsi further noted that there are an increasing number of rape cases involving minors under the age of 18 years. In August, the Mahalapye district reported 11 occurrences of rape involving children. He requested council members to educate the local populations about the social ills that are plaguing them in order to reduce the number of sexual assault complaints against youngsters.
“Let’s keep educating our communities about gender-based violence, especially against girls and women. I earnestly implore each person to assume personal accountability and work to create a just and fair society,” Merementsi said in his conclusion.
A presentation by the Botswana Police Service (BPS) on the Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) revealed that 1,208 cases of child rape were reported nationwide in 2019 alone. The research also stated that there will be 1,825 instances in 2020 and 3,031 cases in 2021 alone.
The data was presented last November during a roundtable hosted by BPS, UNICEF, and the Botswana Editors Forum. During the same roundtable, a UNICEF study was discussed. It revealed that in 2019, the Central Tutume district had the highest number of births in Botswana amongst mothers between the ages of 10 and 19 (659), followed by Kweneng East (607). Central Mahalapye ranked fourth with 426 births, while Central Serowe came third with 596 births.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s acting representative, Alexandra Illmer, said last year that 11% of girls in Botswana report rape to the police.
According to llmer, the COVID-19 epidemic in Botswana, like in many other nations, highlighted and aggravated a number of pre-existing vulnerabilities and further marginalised at-risk population groups, particularly children.
She added that police reports reveal that there was a 20% spike in defilement cases during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, demonstrating a rise in sexual violence.