Title: Gender equality in Botswana: an unfulfilled agenda

Authors: Emmanuel Botlhale

Addresses: Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Botswana, Botswana

Abstract: Democracy obligates governments to put all population sub-groups on the same pedestal. Treating population sub-groups equally will ensure gender equality. The world over, there is gender inequality and, therefore, some population sub-groups, particularly women and the girl child, suffer gender injustice. Therefore, they disproportionately suffer from diseases of poverty. To arrest the effects of gender inequality, governments adopt gender instruments. The record is mixed; successes and failures, with a preponderance of the latter. This situation is most acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and Botswana suffers from the same malaise. This paper aims to discuss gender inequality in Botswana. It adopted a case study approach. It concluded that despite the government's avowal to gender equality, there are pockets of gender inequality. The general lesson from this case is that there is no direct correlation between governments' avowal to gender equality and gender equality. Therefore, genuine commitment is important.

Keywords: gender; gender equality; gender discrimination; gender justice; Botswana.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGSDS.2020.109246

International Journal of Gender Studies in Developing Societies, 2020 Vol.3 No.4, pp.361 - 374

Received: 27 Feb 2019
Accepted: 27 Jan 2020
Published online: 02 Sep 2020 *

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