Prostitution in Botswana

Prostitution in Botswana is not illegal, but laws such as public disorder, vagrancy, loitering and state recognised religious provisions are used to prosecute prostitutes. Related activities such as soliciting 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. The Itekeng ward of Francistown (locally known as 'Doublers') is the main area of prostitution in the city. The majority of the prostitutes in both cities are from Zimbabwe. In 2013, the Botswana's Ministry of Health estimated there were more than 1,500 Zimbabwean sex workers in the country, mainly in Gaborone, Francistown and Kasane, out of a total of about 4,000 prostitutes in those three areas.

Although homosexuality is stigmatised in the country, male prostitution is on the increase in Botswana, especially in Gaborone, Palapye, Francistown, Maun, Kasane and Kazungula.