Women take stock of human rights gains

The participants said that advocacy for women's rights by women's organisations in the country has subsided mainly because the essence has changed from women advocacy to gender advocacy,  sparking fears that equality might never be realised. It was stated that gender neutralises what is happening to women on the ground and compromises the reality of violence against women.

"We still have cultural backgrounds that hamper progress towards violence against women. Even men experience violence in their homes but they cannot voice it because of socialisation and the cultural setup where a man should never look to be overpowered by the woman," said the Botswana Network Ethics Law and Advocacy official Lenah Baitirile.