Half of Batswana say they felt unsafe walking in their neighbourhoods at least once during the past year, while about the same proportion feared crime in their homes, a recent Afrobarometer survey indicates.
Crime/insecurity ranks second, behind unemployment, among the most important problems that Batswana want their government to address, and citizens give the government poor marks on reducing crime.
Key findings
- Half of Batswana (50%) say they felt unsafe walking in their neighbourhoods at least once during the past year, and almost as many (45%) report fearing crime in their homes. Both numbers reflect the highest levels of insecurity recorded in Afrobarometer surveys in Botswana over the past decade (Figure 1).
- Feeling unsafe in the neighbourhood is far more common among citizens experiencing high levels of lived poverty (64%) than among those who are economically well off (38%) (Figure 2).
- Fear of crime in the home shows the same pattern: 54% among those with moderate or high lived poverty vs. 31% of economically well-off citizens (Figure 3).
- Men are somewhat more likely than women to say they feared crime in the home (48% vs. 42%), as are urban residents compared to their rural counterparts (46% vs. 41%).
Respondents with high levels of lived poverty are most likely to report feeling unsafe in their communities.
