Prostitution in Botswana is not illegal, but laws such as public disorder, vagrancy, loitering and state recognised religious provisions are used to prosecute

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

. Related activities such as

soliciting Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

and brothel keeping are illegal. Botswana has made proposals to make prostitution legal to prevent the spread of AIDS. However, there has been mass opposition to it by the Catholic Church. Prostitution is widespread and takes place on the street, bars, hotels, brothels and the cabs of long-distance trucks. Law enforcement is weak, inconsistent and corrupt. Sex workers report routine violence and extortion by the police. Police sometimes demand sex or bribes from foreign prostitutes under threat of deportation. Condoms are issued free from health centres, but are often confiscated from sex workers by the police. The Gaborone West shopping complex and the streets surrounding it, are the main area of prostitution in the capital,

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

. The Itekeng ward of

Francistown Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 and 147,122 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2022 census. and often described as the "''Capital of the North''" or as the natives would have it “''T ...

(locally known as 'Doublers') is the main area of prostitution in the city. The majority of the prostitutes in both cities are from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. In 2013, the Botswana's Ministry of Health estimated there were more than 1,500 Zimbabwean sex workers in the country, mainly in

, Francistown and

Kasane Kasane is a town in Botswana, close to Africa's 'Four Corners', where four countries almost meet: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is at the far north-eastern corner of Botswana where it serves as the administrative center of the Chobe D ...

, out of a total of about 4,000 prostitutes in those three areas. Although

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

is stigmatised in the country,

male prostitution Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...

is on the increase in Botswana, especially in Gaborone,

Palapye Palapye is a growing town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone ( from Francistown and from Gaborone). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–sout ...

, Francistown, Maun, Kasane and

Kazungula Kazungula is a small border town in Zambia, lying on the north bank of the Zambezi River about west of Livingstone on the M10 Road. At Kazungula, the territories of four countries (Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia) come close to meeti ...

Legal situation

The following items of the Penal Code of Botswana criminalises, or is used to criminalise, prostitution and related activities: * 90. Offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace * 136. Insult to religion of any class * 149. Procuration * 150. Procuring defilement of person by threats or fraud or administering drugs * 153. Detention of persons for immoral purposes * 155. Person living on earnings of prostitution or persistently soliciting * 156. Person aiding, etc. for gain, prostitution * 157. Premises used for prostitution * 158. Brothels * 176. Common nuisance * 179. Idle and disorderly persons * 182. Rogues and vagabonds * 184. Spreading infection Section 57 of the 2009 Children's Act makes it a crime to induce, coerce or encourage a child to engage in prostitution, subject to two to five years imprisonment and/or a fine of 50,000 pula ($4,685). The 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act criminalises all forms of trafficking, essentially tracking international law and making it a crime to use force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation.

HIV

Botswana is experiencing one of the most severe

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/ AIDS epidemics in the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. The national HIV prevalence rate among adults ages 15 to 49 is 24.8 percent, which is the third highest in the world, behind Lesotho and Eswatini. Sex workers are a high risk group. In 2012 it was reported sex workers have an HIV prevalence of 61.9%. Sex workers report that many clients are reluctant to use condoms. Some will pay more for unprotected sex, others use violence.

Sex trafficking

Botswana is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Residents of Botswana most vulnerable to trafficking are unemployed women, the rural poor, agricultural workers, and children. Botswana girls and women are possibly exploited in prostitution within the country, including in bars and by truck drivers along major highways. Some women may be subjected to trafficking internally or transported from neighbouring countries and subjected to sexual exploitation. Undocumented migrant Zimbabwean children might be vulnerable to trafficking in Botswana. There has been no comprehensive international or domestic study of trafficking trends within the country. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) is an agency within the United States Department of State charged with investigating and creating programs to prevent human trafficking both within the United States and internation ...

ranks Botswana as a Tier 2 country.

References

Sources

* {{Botswana topics

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

Society of Botswana