Kgokgontsho ya bong ke tirisodikgoka nngwe le nngwe e e dirwang mo mothong ka ntlha ya bong jwa gagwe.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is any harm done to a person because of their gender. It is most often violence by men against women and children, and it is never the fault of the person it happens to.
It is more than hitting
- Physical abuse: hitting, slapping, choking, pushing, or threatening to.
- Sexual abuse: any sexual act without consent. A child can never consent: any sexual act with a child is a crime.
- Emotional abuse: constant insults, humiliation, isolation from family and friends, threats, controlling where you go and who you see.
- Financial abuse: taking your money, blocking you from working, making you beg for basic needs.
Tshotlako ga se go itewa fela. Go kgoba, go tshosetsa, go go thibela madi kgotsa go go kgaoganya le ba gaeno: le tsone ke tshotlako.
What Botswana law says
The Domestic Violence Act protects you from physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse by someone you live with or are in a relationship with, and lets you apply for a protection order at a magistrate's court. Rape, defilement of a child, and child abuse are crimes under the Penal Code and the Children's Act. Reporting is free, and so is the protection order.
If this is happening to you
It is not your fault, and you are not alone. You don't have to decide anything today; you can just talk to someone, free and confidentially, without giving your name.