Former Minister Kenewendo sexually harassed on the job

Anti-GBV activists have commended former Cabinet Minister, Bogolo Joy Kenewendo for opening up about the sexual harassment experience she has had on the job.

Kitso Motlhale from the Botswana Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Centre says it is very rare for high profile GBV victims to come out.

Kenewendo claimed in a recent interview with BBC that she was sexually harassed on the job, a rare phenomenon among high-profile persons in the country, to open up.

This comes as the country is battling the rising cases of GBV in all forms. Several incidents have resulted in women losing their lives at the hands of people they trust the most.

The Botswana Gender Based Violence Prevention and Support Centre is now hoping Kenewendo’s story would encourage other high-profile people to open up and discuss their ordeal.

In an interview with The Midweek Sun, Motlhale says it is quite difficult for high profile people to speak out because of so many expectations that the society has on them.

Motlhale said for instance, the society believes that high profile people have power, control and intelligence, therefore cannot be subjected to abuse. In addition, they have ample resources that one can have at their disposal to prevent it

from happening.

Being a public figure also gives members of the public a false perception that your ability to talk to everyone with confidence means that you possess confidence to wade away from such abuse.

“High profiled people shrink away because of such reasons and by the time they open up the damage has already been done. Some have been able to actually come out of the situation.

Others are still struggling to actually say it. They think what will people say because I am a CEO, Director or even a Minister and if they see me reporting GBV”, Motlhale said, adding that such people end up restraining themselves.

Motlhale said this is the same pressure that some men experience, where culturally they have been made to believe that they cannot cry out or cannot imagine seeking counselling or any assistance regarding GBV.

Kenewendo, who is the UN Climate Champion's Special Advisor for Africa, BBC Focus on Africa podcast that she had herself experienced an environment of sexual harassment and discrimination in the work place.

"When you're a young woman in such a space there are a lot of innuendos - how you got the job - but even those who you work with, fighting off sexual advances or even harassment in some cases. There was a severe case that happened and I reported it to my principals and there was action," she told the BBC without going into more details.

"What surprised me was that they thought it was an isolated case, which it wasn't. They quickly learnt that it wasn't an isolated case and so it was taken care of," the former minister is quoted as saying, a result of which she says she was encouraged to bring bills to parliament that dealt with the protection of women and children.