We strive to end the cycle of violence and abuse now, particularly against women and girls in their diversity in an effort to cultivate peaceful communities that uphold gender equality for all .

Cultivating access to health services for all is meaningless without understanding that a culture of violence, stigma and discrimination on the basis of gender acts as a barrier: it denies women and girls their rightful place within the community and prevents  them from accessing  life saving care. Violence is cross cutting and includes physical, emotional, sexual, psychological and economic harm, stripping away basic human dignity.

According to the Botswana National Relationship Study (2018), 37% of women have reported experiencing some form of GBV in their lifetime. In the Violence Against Children (VAC) Survey (2018), the prevalence of sexual violence perpetrated against girls under the age of 18 years old was recorded at 9.3%. The World Population
Review (2020), states that Botswana sits with the second highest rape incidence in the world with 92.90 incidents per 100,000 people. In the face of these statistics, we gear our efforts toward breaking the chain of GBV and dismantling violence within our communities with the support of our donors and partners.

BONELA aligns to the Gender Based Violence Advisory Note (2020), Ministry of Immigration, Nationality and Gender Affairs (Botswana) which states that ‘ failure to address this issue … entails a significant cost for the future. Numerous studies worldwide and in Botswana have shown that children growing up with violence are more likely to become survivors themselves or perpetrators of violence in future. Therefore, addressing Gender Based Violence requires a community-based, multi- pronged approach, and sustained engagement with multiple stakeholders. ‘ – 

Getting It Done

We work with our communities to ensure that the root causes and effects of GBV are
addressed through our interventions.

Our activities include:

• Conducting community assessments around GBV to understand the specific context;
• Educating communities to dismantle harmful attitudes that perpetuate GBV from the context of culture and socialisation ;
• Educating Women and Girls around their rights to ensure that they are able recognize violations aimed at them;
• Providing legal services in the event of Human Rights violations;
• Building Community Linkages among leaders such as Dikgosi (Traditional leaders), District Commissioners, Teachers, Religious leaders, Health and Social Workers as well as the Police to establish a working ecosystem against GBV; and
• Advocating for the improvement of laws around GBV and higher prosecutions of perpetrators within the justice system.

Projects

TRACK RECORD

Resources