Women political activists hail sex offenders registry motion
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday December 6, 2017 18:00
Specially Elected Member of Parliament (MP), Bogolo Kenewendo tabled the motion in Parliament last week Friday.
The motion was passed smoothly after it received an overwhelming support from legislators.
Amongst others, when adopted into law, the motion is meant to ensure that members of the community (most particularly, women and girls) remain on high alert against sex offenders.
Some stakeholders have in the past suggested that some rapists have a penchant of repeating their offences, which warrants the introduction of a sex offenders’ registry.
In Botswana, just like in many countries, women and girls are targeted by sex offenders.
“We see the passing of the motion as a victory and long-awaited positive achievement for women in Botswana, who are the main victims of rape and other sexual offences.
“We will continue calling for stiffer penalties towards sex offenders because sexual offences, particularly rapists, are spiralling out of control.
This is a very progressive development,” Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Women’s League president, Daisy Bathusi said in an interview this week.
Rape cases have been a major concern to authorities in Botswana. By June this year ,the police had already registered over 700 cases of rape countrywide. Last year’s figures stood at 2,051 by end of the year.
The Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) women’s wing president, Rhoda Sekgororoane told Mmegi that the recently adopted motion is a step in the right direction in the fight against the increasing number of sex offences.
“The prison sentence imposed on rapists should also be increased. Even the bail conditions for such accused persons need to be tightened because some offenders do not abide by their bail conditions. They re-offend when they are given bail. I hope the recently passed motion will be passed into law soon.”
Prior to the approval of the motion by Parliament, the Assistant Minister of Local Government Botlogile Tshirelets,o who is also a gender activist, told a local newspaper that the sex offenders’ register should be introduced as a matter of urgency.
“As the offenders responsible for these offences cannot be incarcerated for ever, and must be released at some point, extra-precautions must be taken to ensure they pose no threat to the public,” said Tshireletso.
She further told the paper that a national sex offenders’ register would allow police to track down re-offenders faster, thus increasing the success rate and the speed at which they are brought to justice.
“It would also provide a strong deterrent against re-offence on its own right,” Tshireletso told the newspaper.
On Friday (before the motion was passed), Child Line Botswana also released a statement calling on government to introduce a register for sexual offenders.
Although the introduction of the register has not received strong opposition in Botswana, it has attracted controversy in advanced countries where it has existed for years.
Those opposed believe that it can lead to sex offenders being portrayed as wicked people who threaten in the society although they would have served punishment for their offences.