Protect the child, not the molester

The Setswana adage that goes ‘Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng’, meaning a mother will do all to protect her offspring, seems to have lost meaning. It is not just the human mothers with a natural instinct to protect. A dog will kill to protect its puppies; a buffalo will face pride of lions for its calf, just as a hen will spread its wings to shield the chicks.

While mother hens are still doing all, even threatening with quacking sounds to wad off threats, more and more human mothers seem to be sacrificing their children on the alter of financial muscle or the pretext of protecting the family name.  Our children are under siege and the parents seem to have, instead of protecting their offspring, opting to protect the culprits.

We read about incidents where mothers have withdrawn court cases to protect molesters. A family member or friend rapes a child, and instead ensuring the culprit pays for the unspeakable act, the ‘family discussions’ take place, and the case is withdrawn. In most instances, the perpetrators are boyfriends or husbands of the mothers in question and breadwinners thereof, whilst in other cases, the culprits are uncles or cousins. Some are high profile community leaders, as witnessed by the case that has shaken the country and led to the rise of a social movement known as #IshallNotForget, which has taken course against child abuse.  

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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