Botswana:Kasane Police-Prevention of GBV through Education

Kasane police provides a project which promotes the rights of people and denounces abuse. Also the Botswana police service ensures privacy and confidentiality when dealing with gender issues or the reported cases. The main agenda of the project is to protect the victims, perpetrators of gender based violence and their property. Peace maintenance and ensuring that all the reported cases are dealt with accordingly.

It aims to prevent Gender based violence, through conducting workshops, kgotla meetings and house to house campaigns. Additionally, response and protection through conducive environment that allows confidentiality to gender issues.

The project has a strong monitoring and evaluation framework through gender based violence reporting template to weigh the increase and decrease of cases. Disseminating information during workshops and kgotla meetings. Also conducting workshops to make people aware of the gender based violence.

Some of the challenges that the groups encountered includes withdrawal cases, whereby the victim will withdraw the case in case of preserving the family relations. This is overcomed by sensitizing the victims about the issue of bringing the cases to laws. Another challenge is that youths are mostly the perpetrators of Gender based violence. According to the research from different stations, women from the age of 13 are mostly the victims and males from the age 18 and above are the perpetrators of GBV. This is overcomed by conducting alcohol and Drug Abuse because most abuse happens under the influence of drug abuse. Also, in cases of high post of the perpetrator, the victim may be bribed with money.

Women have been empowered by the project through conducting gender based violence cases in which women were being empowered to be aware of their rights and to defend their rights. Also public education in which the community is taught more about domestic violence. There is also school of Gender based violence Focal person, that is where women are encouraged to teach other women and girl child students about gender based violence among others.

The project can be replicated by sustainability through the capacity building shops; this is whereby the stakeholders are trained on how to deal with Gender based violence stories. Additionally, the reporting tools in which the cases are reported monthly and decrease in the number of cases reported. Lectures to other focal persons, the district focal person arranged meetings  to educate the focal person on issues of violence and even bringing the staff members from other stakeholders in order to teach more about gender based violence.