BOTSWANA IN 2020, Yvonne Mooka, a female investigative journalist with the Botswana Guardian was trolled and harassed online for her exposé of a prophet who was allegedly involved in corrupt activities such as money laundering. Such kind of attacks are rare on male journalists, as attacks tend to focus on their professionalism and are not trolled to that extent. It was noted that Botswana media houses do not have gender policies, which has further normalised online gender-based violence and stereotypes against female journalists. A World Association of News Publishers report said gender representation in newsrooms in Botswana has hardly improved in the past decade. From the editorial leadership of nine mainstream newspapers, only two women — the editor of The Voice and managing editor of Weekend Post — are in positions of power and influence. The work environment is generally not conducive for women, accentuated by low salaries and misconceptions of labeling women as “lazy” and unable to take on certain tasks. Female journalists are often relegated to entertainment reporting, while their male colleagues are assigned politics and investigative segments. Female journalists who disregard these stereotypes and attempt to thrive in the male dominated sectors are more often castigated than their male counterparts. In another case, in 2019 at the height of electioneering, a Member of Parliament for Selibe Phikwe West, Dithapelo Koorapetse was accused by the media union of cyberbullying a female reporter, Tirelo Ditshipi. During a public spat with another journalist, Philemon Mmeso, who is also Ditshipi’s husband, Koorapetse shared the female journalist’s pictures on social media platforms, ridiculing her. Koorapetse’s party president refused to call the MP to order, saying Ditshipi was “collateral damage”. A report by Gender Links, quotes a study by Mmegi, a Botswana publication, which found that cyber bullying was on the increase, particularly targeting celebrities. YVONNE Mooka 12 As with most countries in Southern Africa, there are no official police records of cases that have been reported. This makes prosecution on cases of online gender-based violence almost impossible.