GBV down by 47% during the Easter holidays

Pini Bothoko | Monday April 28, 2025 16:08

Every weekend, clinics and hospitals are overwhelmed by patients with life-threatening wounds as the country grapples with an emerging knife culture, especially among young adults. In the past, the police revealed that knife crime, particularly among the youth, especially young men, is worsened by alcohol intake.

Giving an overview of the just-ended Easter Holidays, Botswana Police Service (BPS) spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Near Bagali stated that for the first time in several years, no gender based murder was recorded over the four-day weekend.

Police crime statistics show that women and girls account for more than 80 per cent of victims of domestic assault cases, while men comprise the overwhelming majority of perpetrators. However, Bagali said the absence of murder does not mean the absence of violence as assaults, threats and sexual offences remain far too common, and they stem from conflicts that could and should be resolved peacefully.

“Offences related to GBV went down by 47% this Easter holidays as compared to the 2024 same period. However, it is still a concern that some sectors of society are continuously developing a deep-rooted culture of violence. We therefore implore every citizen to commit to peaceful conflict resolution rather than through violence. Every individual, regardless of gender or social standing, deserves dignity and recognising that is the first step toward dialogue instead of fists,” he said.

Bagali revealed that they recorded three cases of threat to kill, seven cases defilement, 18 rape cases, eight unlawful wounding and four cases of child negligence. He added that, as compared to 10 murder cases recorded in the same period last year, this holiday, only five murder cases were recorded, which were also not GBV-related.

He said even though rape cases remains a concern this past holiday it significantly went down from 37 cases that were recorded the same period last year to 18 cases.

“Unlawful wounding, one of the offences that remains a concern as people continue to fight and harm each other, and at times resulting in death, has also gone down from 43 cases to 24 cases these past holidays,” he said.

Police attribute the modest improvements to visibility patrols and community policing partnerships. Bagali acknowledged the tremendous contribution made by the community policing initiative during the Easter holidays to the prevention and detection of crime, which guarantees citizens' and residents’ public safety and security.

Regarding the crime situation, Bagali said offences against property decreased during the period under review except for burglary and theft, robberies, store breaking and stealing stock. “We have registered a total of 92 cases during the period under review, compared to 109 cases last year during this period. This translates into a decrease of 16% in the overall offences recorded against property recorded the Easter holidays compared to the same period last year. Burglary and theft went up from 14 to 17 cases, store breaking and theft from 13 to 17 cases and stealing stock from 11 to 15 cases under this period,” Bagali said.

As for road safety, Bagali said the overall number of road traffic accidents recorded countrywide decreased by 17% from 243 in 2024 to 202 this year. He said a total of 13 people sustained serious injuries, whilst 17 suffered minor injuries. He added that during the same period last year, 22 people were seriously injured while 40 sustained minor injuries.

“Five fatal road traffic accidents were recorded in which six people lost their lives during the just-ended Easter holidays, compared to three road traffic accidents which claimed four lives in the previous year,” he said.

Bagali added that in the period under review, 1695 speeding cases were detected compared to 2092 in the previous year, a decrease of 19%. He further stated that the offence of driving without a license also decreased by 23% from 962 to 739.

He stated that while the police appreciate motorists who observe road signs and exercise patience and courtesy to other road users, it is alarming that some motorists choose to drink alcohol and drive. “A total of 628 drivers subjected to breath alcohol tests, out of which 291 of them exceeded the prescribed limit,” Bagali said.