Botswana: Divergent Views On Child Well-Being Invite Attention in Botswana

14 October 2024
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Mogopodi Lekorwe, Kabelo Moseki and Clement Mooketsi

Almost half of citizens say children are often subjected to abuse and neglect.

Key findings

  • Half (51%) of Batswana say the use of physical force to discipline children is "sometimes" or "always" justified, while 49% reject it as "never justified."
  • Opposition to corporal punishment has almost doubled since 2017 (26%).
  • Half (50%) of Batswana say adults in their community use physical force to discipline children "somewhat frequently" (31%) or "very frequently" (19%).
  • Close to half (48%) of Batswana say that children in their community are frequently subjected to abuse and neglect, whereas a similar proportion (47%) disagree.
  • A clear majority (56%) see school absenteeism among children as a common occurrence.
  • Majorities of respondents believe that help is available in their community for abused or neglected children (60%), children with physical disabilities (58%), and individuals with mental or emotional problems (51%).
  • Six in 10 citizens (61%) say the government is doing a good job of protecting and promoting the well-being of vulnerable children.
  • But satisfaction with the government's performance is notably lower among citizens experiencing high lived poverty (41%) and those lacking formal education (50%).

Children in Botswana face a wide range of challenges to their emotional and physical well- being, from poverty and neglect to abuse and sexual exploitation.

Despite government efforts to help vulnerable children through initiatives such as orphan care and needy children programmes, the situation remains critical. In a country hit hard by HIV/AIDS, a 2017 situation analysis estimates that 35% of all children are orphans or children made vulnerable by poverty, lack of access to services, or the caregiver's chronic illness, not counting children who are HIV-positive or who live in an abusive environment or outside family care (Republic of Botswana, 2019).

Among households with orphans and/or vulnerable children, between 39% and 54% (depending on the type of household) received some type of social protection from the government (Republic of Botswana, 2019).

According to estimates by scholars at the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom, 42% of children in Botswana live in multidimensional poverty (Lekobane & Roelen, 2020). Stunting affects one in five children (UNICEF, 2023).

Instances of violence against children are not uncommon. A 2018 survey by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (2019) found that 29% of girls and 35% of boys aged 13-17 had experienced physical violence during the preceding year, while 10% of girls and 4% of boys had suffered sexual violence. Police reports of rape and defilement of girls total more than 1,500 annually (UNICEF, 2023).

While the 2009 Children's Act states that parents must "respect the[ir] child's dignity and refrain from administering any discipline which violates such dignity or adversely affects the physical, emotional or psychological well-being of the child," corporal punishment is legal in the home and school (End Corporal Punishment, 2024).

This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021/2023) questionnaire to explore Africans' attitudes and perceptions related to child well-being.

Batswana are evenly divided on the acceptability of corporal punishment for children, reflecting a near-doubling of opposition to the practice since 2017.

Citizens are also split on the question of how often children in their community are abused or neglected, while a majority says that out-of-school children are a frequent occurrence.

More than half of respondents say help is available in their community for abused and neglected children, children with disabilities, and mentally troubled children. And a majority think the government is doing a good job of protecting vulnerable children, though approval is considerably lower among poor and less educated citizens.

Prof. Mogopodi Lekorwe Mogopodi is the Afrobarometer national investigator in Botswana

Kabelo Moseki Kabelo Moseki is a senior lecturer in the Department of Statistics at the University of Botswana and a research associate with Star Awards.

Clement Mooketsi Clement Mooketsi is a research assistant

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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