No legal protection for people with disabilities � Majang
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday November 13, 2014 11:45
Speaking at a media briefing hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA) in Gaborone recently, Majang said women and children with disabilities face abuse, but it was hard for their cases to be resolved due to the disabilities they face.
“As a person who has a challenge, I would like to talk about challenges that people with disabilities face because the truth is, ‘setlhako se fisa mong’ (nobody can know a situation unless they are in it).
“One of the abuses we face as people with ‘challenges’ is emotional abuse. I faced it when I lost sight,” she said. She said that after she lost her sight, her then fiancé of two years, told her he could not longer marry her or stay in the relationship as he had realised that she could not regain her sight. She said the abuse meted to people with disabilities was really heartbreaking.
“People with disabilities get raped almost everyday but when they try to report to the police the cases do not go anywhere.
“People with visual and intellectual disabilities face the worst of challenges. “For those who are visually impaired, it’s hard for them to identify their assailants. As for most people with intellectual disabilities, they can identify the perpetrators, but their evidence is usually dismissed ass they are intellectually challenged.
“As a result, their cases go in vain. Imagine the pain that these people face. They need protection from the government,” she added. Majang also pointed out that the government ignored people with disabilities.
She added that they do not have privacy as doctors and other professionals do not know sign language to communicate with people who cannot talk or hear.
On behalf of Botswana Police Service (BPS), Assistant Superintendent Thatatsotlhe Nwakoro said that the police find it difficult to respond to people with mentioned disabilities. She said that for the police to help these people they have to involve a third person.
“Communication barriers make it difficult for us to catch the perpetrator. This is one of the reasons why investigations are delayed.
“One of our biggest challenges is that people with disabilities cannot identify the suspects. The other thing is that the law focuses on people with mental abilities.
“It is up to family and friends to report any abuse cases they suspect or have witnessed done against these people,” she said. She added that it was high time the country has specific legislation regarding people with disabilities.
MLHA deputy permanent secretary, Kelebogile Kgabi said a World Bank study showed that women with disabilities were even more likely to be victims of violence or rape than able-bodied women. “They are less likely to be able to obtain police intervention, legal protection, or prophylactic care.
“A survey conducted in Orissa, India, found that virtually all of the women and girls with disabilities were beaten at home. “Twenty-five percent of women with intellectual disabilities had been raped and six percent of women with other disabilities had been forcibly sterilised,” she said. She added that women with disabilities were also easy prey to rapists as many of them were not in a position to defend themselves from physical attacks.
Women and girls with intellectual disabilities who had been sexually abused were often not able to receive legal protection, as their capacity and competence to give evidence in a trial is questioned, Kgabo said. She highlighted health challenges that these women and girls face such as HIV and AIDS and violence saying that these cases still exist due to ‘our’ negligence.
However, Reverend Rupert Hambira pointed out that Botswana has to recognise people with disabilities. He said the government has been left behind regarding issues affecting people with disabilities together with domestic violence affecting women and children.