Gender-Based Violence and Botswana's Constitutional Failure to Protect Women's Rights

Authors

Cameron McDonald, University of Cincinnati College of Law

Abstract

Gender-based violence (“GBV”) remains a pervasive human rights issue throughout Botswana. When it comes to gender equality, Botswana’s dual constitutional and customary legal system is a paradox. Despite its commitment to equality and nondiscrimination, Botswana’s Constitution allows customary courts to discriminate freely to preserve traditional practices that disadvantage women. These traditional practices affect women’s right to property, inheritance, marriage, legal representation, and personal safety. Customary law continues to constrain women’s right to economic autonomy and access to justice, leaving many women dependent on the men who abuse them. As a result, many Batswana women experience structural discrimination in both their professional and personal lives.

This Article explores how GBV infiltrates Botswana’s constitutional, customary, and social structures which leads to many Batswana women being treated as second-class citizens. Further, this Article argues that the constitution’s deference to the patriarchal nature of customary law undermines the Constitution’s nondiscrimination guarantees and ignores Botswana’s international human rights obligations under treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Southern African Development Community.

Recommended Citation

McDonald, Cameron (2026) "Gender-Based Violence and Botswana's Constitutional Failure to Protect Women's Rights," Immigration and Human Rights Law Review: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/ihrlr/vol7/iss1/6