Socio-Economic Factors Contributing to Girl Child Abuse in Botswana

This report is the final report from the study Socio-economic Factors Contributing to Girl Child Abuse in Botswana. The study is a research study funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), administered through World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and executed by Childline Botswana.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate girl-child abuse and to identify in depth the major economic, social, and situational factors that contribute to the problem of child sexual abuse in Botswana. As there are no other Botswana-specific studies on the socio-economic factors that lead to girl-child sexual abuse, this current study has a significant impact on policies, programmes, counselling, and training related to child sexual abuse.

The specific objectives were as follows.

• Provide written, theatre, and visual information to be used to lobby government for a coherent, national child welfare policy as it relates to girl-child sexual abuse.
• Develop Botswana-specific literature for the prevention of sexual abuse of children, taking into account the socio-economic, political, and cultural realities in the country.
• Use the results as a basis for developing new, and refining existing, Childline programmes, services, and strategies, including those aimed at the prevention of child sexual abuse.
• Support change within child-centred environments that will prevent child sexual abuse, such as changing the teachers’ code of conduct and establishing a procedure for filing complaints in schools.
• Increase awareness and concern for the issue and its causes, which have traditionally been taboo subjects in Botswana.

Further information:

This report was part of the Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) child protection research fund.

• Find out more about the project
• Read the summary here