Earlier this week, the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs launched what it called a “groundbreaking initiative”.
The National Week of Prayer Against Gender-Based Violence under the theme “United in Prayer, Solidarity Against GBV.”
I know right? And look, we’ll get to women in positions of power upholding misogynistic and patriarchal values another day. Or maybe later today.
One crisis at a time, neh?
So here’s the thing. Botswana is facing a relentless and escalating epidemic of GBV. From child rape to domestic homicide, survivors are left with shattered lives, limited access to justice, and an insufficient social support system. With churches, religious groups, and communities being called to unite in spiritual solidarity against a national crisis, this initiative was painted as a hopeful, healing intervention. But let’s be brutally honest: this is not what change looks like.
A man was able to walk into a university and take a woman’s life as she was actively seeking a restraining order against him—and you want us to… bow our heads?
The appropriate response to such violence is not prayer—it is policy. It is legislation. It is urgent investment in education, law enforcement training, survivor protection, forensic services, shelter infrastructure, and legal reform. And yet, we are being offered candles and scripture.
Is this real life? I get it… we’re on a floating rock in a vacuum, but are we being serious right now?
This is not to say that spirituality has no place in healing. For many, prayer is a coping mechanism. It offers solace in the aftermath of trauma. But we must never confuse spiritual comfort with systemic change. A week of collective prayer does nothing to deter a rapist, protect a child, or ensure a woman makes it out of her home alive. It won’t undo years of patriarchal conditioning, nor will it hold perpetrators accountable in a country where many victims withdraw their cases out of fear, pressure, or lack of faith in the justice system.
While prayer holds deep cultural significance for many in Botswana, the state’s increasing reliance on Christian frameworks to address national crises—like gender-based violence—raises serious concerns about the separation of church and state. Government-endorsed initiatives like the National Week of Prayer Against GBV risk alienating non-Christian citizens and blurring constitutional lines. In a secular democracy, responses to violence and justice must be inclusive, rights-based, and rooted in law—not faith.
This growing overlap introduces a dangerous ideological conflict. Where religion often emphasizes forgiveness, prayer, and moral redemption, the state has a legal and constitutional duty to ensure accountability, protection, and justice. When the government leans too heavily on religious approaches, it risks minimizing the systemic nature of GBV and promoting reconciliation over prosecution. Spirituality may offer comfort, but it cannot and must not replace the structural reforms survivors urgently need.
To frame forgiveness and prayer as solutions, especially when praying for perpetrators, is a dangerous and terrifying step backward. How out of touch can you possibly be? This rhetoric subtly shifts responsibility from systems to individuals and waters down the structural reality of GBV. It promotes reconciliation in situations where what is actually needed is justice, safety, and accountability.
Let’s also not ignore that this initiative leans heavily on Christianity in a country that is religiously diverse. Yes, 86.5% of Batswana identify as Christian, and prayer may be culturally significant—but state-sponsored responses to violence must remain secular, inclusive, and rights-based. Victims of GBV are not asking for prayer circles! They’re asking for rape kits, trained prosecutors, trauma-informed police officers, and laws that actually protect them.
Did you know that, according to various local reports and advocacy organizations, less than 2% of reported rape cases in Botswana result in prosecution—let alone conviction?
Yes. Two. As in one plus one.
Meanwhile, we’re preaching moral development to children while ignoring the predators in their homes and schools. That’s not moral guidance—that’s hypocrisy. Morality cannot be instilled through Sunday School alone when children’s lived environments remain unsafe, underfunded, and unprotected.
We cannot afford symbolism when the crisis demands substance. A ribbon is not a shelter. A verse is not a conviction. A vigil is not a protection order.
Spirituality may aid the healing journey, but it is not a substitute for justice.
To the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs: If you are truly committed to ending GBV, then show us the budget. Show us the shelters. Show us the laws. Show us the convictions. Show us justice. Because prayer without action is empty.
If you want to read it for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EzM8NpUNz/
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