Botswana sets up gender violence courts to tackle pandemic backlog
KELETSO THOBEGA BOTSWANA will launch 25 gender violence courts this week following a rise in cases during the coronavirus pandemic - a measure women's campaigners hope will bring swifter justice to victims of sexual and domestic abuse. The government of the southern African country moved to establish the courts after women's rights advocates warned that lockdown curbs were exacerbating high rates of gender-based violence by trapping many women at home with abusers. "(Bringing a case to court) can be a long, tedious process, and this frustrates many victims," said Kgomotso Kelaotswe, a counselor supervisor from the Botswana Gender Based Violence…