GBV Standard Operating Procedures Cascading Workshop
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a serious human rights violation, especially against women and children.
This was said by the Director of Botswana Police Service Forensic Science Services Branch, Senior Assistant Commissioner Dr Baboloki Helen Tumediso, when delivering a keynote address at a four-day GBV workshop in Palapye recently.
The workshop, organised by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat and the European Union, was to cascade Gender-Based Violence standard operating procedures to capacitate members of the BPS on the effective prevention and decisive response to issues of GBV, including Child Abuse.
Dr Tumediso said Botswana Police Service (BPS) has prioritised enforcement of relevant Statutes on GBV and has since established a Gender and Child Protection Branch. This was augmented by the establishment of Police Child-Friendly Service Centres in Gaborone and Francistown for effective response, handling, investigations and possible prosecution of perpetrators in cases of GBV.
For her part, Ms Moruti called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to ensure a coordinated approach to engender a positive response effectively. Ms Moruti said the workshop was prompted by the SADC GBV study conducted in 2018 to compile information on the prevalence of GBV and its forms in the SADC region. It was evident that emotional abuse was the major form of violence, followed by physical and sexual violence.
She said one of their responsibilities as the SADC Secretariat is to provide Member States with policies, strategies, protocols and action plans to manage Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
The SADC Secretariat Senior Officer Public Security, Ms Kealeboga Moruti, thanked the BPS for prioritising the workshop and said it defines a consummate commitment to the security and safety of Batswana.
