| Overview : Child abuse and neglect remain a worrisome issue in Botswana. The Violence Against Children Survey (VACS), 2016 states that among children aged 13-17 years who had ever had sexual intercourse, one in four females (25.1 per cent) and one in twenty males (4.6 per cent) experienced unwanted sex at the time of their sexual debut. Children in Botswana also experience high levels of physical abuse and the VACS shows that 43 per cent of boys and 28 per cent of girls experience physical violence and 14 per cent of both sexes experience emotional violence. In Botswana, police records indicate an increase in sexual violence during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, illustrated through a 20 per cent increase in defilement cases. This situation resulted from children spending more time at home than school with potential abusers, who are often family members or known to the family. Referral mechanisms for cases of child abuse and sexual assault are weak, and there is a limited number of specialized juvenile justice personnel in both the police and justice system. The low reporting of cases of abuse with only one in nine girls reporting cases of rape to the police and only one in seven seeking medical attention remains a concern. COVID-19 restrictions at the time significantly reduced access to services for children facing abuse. There is highly likelihood that the number of unreported cases is even higher. In efforts to improve access to justice by children one child-friendly police station was established in 2020 in Gaborone through advocacy from UNICEF and another in Francistown in 2021. Similar services are lacking in rural areas in Botswana. UNICEF through the Japanese funding aims to increase access to child friendly police station by children in hard-to-reach areas and the targeted locations are Shakawe, Ghanzi and Letlhakane. | 
