Women in Botswana.

The country of Botswana is located in Southern Africa. The country is landlocked, surrounded by barren and vast deserts. The Kalahari Desert actually covers up seventy percent of the land surface on the country. Botswana gained independence within the Commonwealth on September 30, 1966. Botswana's economy is mainly based off of cattle, tourism, and diamond mining. You'll find that the women of this country are far from the women in the United States.

The women in Botswana act mainly as the heads of the house. Rarely do they ever leave the house, or take part in anything that isn't manual labor around the house. It's found that the women actually do much more manual labor than men. The women's professions mainly cover crafting house hold materials and handicrafts; materials such as crafted baskets and dyes. Many families in Botswana are not settled, or mobile. They rarely stay in one place for a long amount of time. The reason for such mobility is food and income. A whopping fifty percent of families live below the Poverty Datum Line. Many people rarely have ownership of large amounts of cash, or make individual achievements. In the cases that someone has made an individual achievement, or has ownership of money, the conclusion of witchcraft is assumed.

Botswana has a very Egalitarian culture. They believe in male superior above all. With males having this power, many of them take advantage of this by beating and raping women constantly. Because of this, many of the women have HIV/AIDS. Women can't speak out against these acts because of male superior; they're immediately shot down, or blamed for what has happened...it's always the woman's fault. Women also have an immense lack of education and understanding cash economy. Women have potential to play important roles in education, health economic activity, and even agriculture but there are numerous cultural, social, economical, political and legal barriers that prevent women from ever holding a position in any of these professions. Without decent professions the women also experience a lack of health services, water, education, and infrastructure. "Man must earn a salary and a woman must remain as a housewife, resulting in women choosing or being made to choose less rewarding jobs."

Apart from all of this, things are starting to change. Just recently, the police force and the army have had openings for women. Many women are apart of many clubs supporting women and fighting for their rights. After all, this is the twenty-first century, and I really think it's about time for the people in Botswana to realize that, and make quite a few changes for the better. Women are just as capable as man in any subject or profession, and they need to open their eyes and see this.