American superstar, Eve, is the latest addition to those who have joined the world in commemorating the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence on Women and Children.
The lady hip hop artist made her feelings known during a Gaborone concert hosted by Urban Legends at which she was the main act.
She dedicated a song that was from one of her old records to the cause.
The track, called ‘Love is blind’, talks about a friend of hers that used to date an abusive boyfriend who used to beat her, even when she was pregnant. It got to a point where he beat her to death after her friends tried to talk to her to leave him, but in vain.
She stuck with him because after abusing her he would come back and apologise the next day and she would fall for his excuses again.
In the song, Eve expresses her anger at the man for the awful way he treated her friend to a point where he caused her death.
At the end of the song, she talks about how she took it upon herself to make him pay by killing him. The heartfelt song reveals how she felt satisfied even when the police were dragging her to jail.
Eve was in Botswana this past Saturday to support a charitable cause that deals with issues of HIV/AIDS. Even though her performance was for 15 minutes, to the dismay of the crowd that travelled from across Botswana to come and see her, her performance proved once again why she was once termed, ‘a pitbull in a skirt”.
The crowd sang along to her music, which has been popular in Botswana ever since 1999.
A feminist in her own right, she has been one of the few female hip-hop artist who have had an impressive following worldwide.
During her performance, the seemingly down to earth artist wore a Zebras T-shirt to the delight of the crowd who went frantic over her performance. At the end of the show she even had girls from Botswana join her on stage. Once again, it seems Urban Legends pulled off a stunning show, thanks to Orange and Westside.
Even a couple of our local acts were given a chance to share the stage with the woman whose presence is surely felt wherever she goes.
Unfortunately, the issues that Eve talks about in her song, ‘Love is blind’, are amongst the real issues that the commemoration is trying to bring to an end: abusive men who beat and torture their women and girl kids to a point of taking their lives.
It’s a worldwide infection that even our country is rife with. Just a week ago, the Women’s Affairs Department Director, Valencia Mogege, had revealed how crime statistics against women and girls in Botswana were on the increase.
Amongst these are assault cases as well as rape cases. Which makes one wonder if our socialization process could have something to do with the way our men treat our women.
There is simply no respect for women in this country, maybe that is why the women in abusive relationships stick with these men, because they feel like they can’t be treated differently elsewhere.
Mogege’s answer was that the key to getting to the bottom issue all starts with women empowerment.
The Telegraph and The Sunday Standard have joined the increasing voices of the call to end the violence against women and children.
