Call to fight abuse of women in sport
Tumelo Mouwane | Wednesday February 24, 2016 11:51
Botswana Primary Schools Sports Association (BOPPSA) treasurer, Koziba Bakokonya, said issues of abuse have become complex since the prevalence of homosexuality. Bakokonya further said girls in rural areas are mostly affected.
“Issues of sexual harassment and sexual abuse have over time become complex especially in the era of homosexuality. It doesn’t’ affect only children, sexual harassment persists even at administration level. Men do it but don’t see it. Most children who come from rural areas mostly fall victim but we always take action against perpetrators since we have a code of conduct in place that we use to deter such behavior at BOPPSA,” Bakokonya said.
Former athlete, Tshoseletso Magang, said the absence of women in tackling issues of abuse and harassment is a concern. Magang further said men also fall victim and they must be included.
“Women are absent in tackling the issue and they should be encouraged to take part in such issues. Men are also victims of abuse in sport. The campaign should not forget that women can also be abusive.
Magang added that women must thrive to attain top positions in sports administration and the idea that men deserve leadership must be discouraged.
Botswana cricket association chief executive officer, Girish Ramakrishna, however, said abuse and harassment issues are much less in their sporting code. “We don’t have much problems in our sporting code. Even if there are incidents of abuse they usually don’t reach our tables and we want such to be reported. We don’t have policies but we have a code of conduct which we use to guard against abuse,” Ramakrishna said. Ramakrishna further added that disabled people should be included in sports administration
“Disabled people should be included in sports administration in order to fight the issue more successfully through an inclusive policy. There must be an interlink between policy and practice,” he said.
The ‘It’s On Us’ campaign is an international campaign that was launched by the White House in the United State of America calling for protection of college girls against abuse. WASBO expressed interest at the Nations Youth Leadership Summit that was held in Florida, USA and was given a go ahead to launch and adopt the campaign.