June 16 tackles child marriage

Tuduetso Kelapile and UNICEF representative Vidhya Ganesh during a press briefing. PIC: KAGISO ONKATSWITSE
Tuduetso Kelapile and UNICEF representative Vidhya Ganesh during a press briefing. PIC: KAGISO ONKATSWITSE

Though Botswana has low incidents of child marriages the practise is reported to be rampant among the Zezuru, Basarwa, parts of the Kgalagadi communities and in North Western Botswana.

A child protection specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),  Ben Semommung said this during a media briefing to mark The Day of the African Child yesterday.  The day was commemorated under the theme, ‘25 Years After The Adoption Of The African Children’s Charter: Accelerating Our Collective Efforts To End Child Marriage In Africa’.

However, owing to statistical challenges, he could not provide figures on the extent of the prevalence among these communities. 

Editor's Comment
GBV: The big elephant in the room

Sadly, the country seems not to have proper tools and the extent to which women and the girl-child are being abused is not adequately measured.Almost every week there are reports of women being attacked by their significant others and while men are attacked as well, women seem to be more on the receiving end.On May 24, 2023 news broke that a woman who was receiving support from the Botswana Gender-Based Violence Prevention Centre in Gaborone, was...

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