Unity Dow
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Unity Dow ( Diswai; born 23 April 1959) is a Motswana lawyer,
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
activist, specially elected
member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, and a writer. She formerly served as a judge on the
High Court of Botswana The High Court of Botswana is the highest court of Botswana. It is based in Gaborone with branches in Lobatse, Francistown, and Maun. It operates above the Magistrates' Courts of Botswana, but below the Appeal Court. The High Court is headed by t ...
and in various government ministries. Born in the
Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in So ...
to a seamstress and a farmer, who insisted on their children obtaining an education, Dow grew up in a traditional rural village before modernisation. She earned a law degree in 1983 from the University of Botswana and Swaziland, though her studies were completed in Swaziland and
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, Scotland, as Botswana had no law school at the time. After her graduation, Dow opened the first all-woman law firm in Botswana and in 1997 became the first woman to be appointed as a judge to the country's High Court. During her time in law, Dow was involved in three historic cases in Botswana. In 1990, she was the
plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...
in the landmark legal case, '' Unity Dow v Attorney-General'', which ended the gender discrimination in the nation's nationality laws that had previously not allowed children to derive nationality from their married mothers. The case gained Dow international attention and sparked a wave of changes eliminating gender disparity in nationality laws across Africa. In 2006, as the presiding judge in the case of ''Roy Sesana and Others v. the Government of Botswana'', Dow ruled against the government's actions to prohibit the Basarwa indigenous people from living and hunting on their
ancestral lands Ancestral domain or ancestral lands refers to the Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples, lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The term differs from indigenous land rights, Aboriginal titl ...
, forcing them to resettle outside the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of (larger than the Netherlands, and almost 10% of Botswana's total land area), making it the second largest game ...
. She ruled that the government had to restore basic services, allow the Basarwa to return to the land and obtain hunting permits, and pay damages to those who had been forcibly relocated if they chose not to return. In 2014, Dow served as legal counsel for LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana) in their case to register their organisation with the Department of Civil and National Registration and successfully received a ruling for the government to allow the organisation to be registered. Dow was first elected to the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
in 2014, when she was nominated by President
Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...
as a special elected member of parliament. She was first appointed as an Assistant Minister of Education and in 2015 became the Minister of Education and Skills Development. Subsequently she served as Minister of Basic Education, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, and Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, before becoming a
backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
in 2020. She has served on numerous international commissions and committees, evaluating the application of laws affecting the human rights of people in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
,
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
,
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
and
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. In 2000, Dow began publishing novels, typically focusing on social and legal issues and their impact on gender and power structures. The works examine social practices and exploitation through abuse, violence, and suppression of human rights. She has received numerous accolades and honours for her humanitarian work, including the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
in 2010.


Early life and education

Unity Diswai was born on 23 April 1959, in
Mochudi Mochudi is one of the larger villages in Botswana with a population of 44,815 people in 2011. It is situated in the Bakgatla tribal region, in Kgatleng District, about northeast of Gaborone. The village lies several kilometres from the main G ...
,
Kgatleng District Kgatleng is one of the districts of Botswana, coterminous with the homeland of the Bakgatla people. Its capital is Mochudi, the hometown of protagonist Precious Ramotswe in Alexander McCall Smith's popular ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' s ...
, Botswana (which at the time was the
Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in So ...
), to parents Phiri and Maefshane Diswai (also known as Moses and Ellen Diswai), descendants of the Mosarwa indigenous people and members of the BaKgatla tribe. The rural village in which she grew up had no paved roads, electricity, or running water. There were no telephones and she did not see a refrigerator until she was a teenager, nor a television until she was twenty. Her mother was a seamstress, who was able to read and write in
SeTswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zone ...
, but not English. Her father, who worked a small farm, spoke and read English. When her father was at school, he won a scholarship to attend the
University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...
, but the scholarship was given to the chief's son instead. For both her parents, education became a priority and six of their seven children completed university studies. Their
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
courses were unusual for rural Botswana at the time. Diswai completed her primary and secondary education in Mochudi. After high school, she studied law at the University of Botswana and Swaziland. Because there was no law school in Botswana at the time, under a British aid program she attended university in
Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
and completed two years of study in Scotland, at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, before she earned her
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
in 1983 from the University of Botswana and Swaziland.


Law and activism


Early career (1983–1991)

Diswai qualified as an attorney in 1983 and began working in the chambers of the Attorney General as a criminal prosecutor in
Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...
. She married a United States national, Peter Nathan Dow, on 7 March 1984. The couple made their home in Mochudi, with their three children. In 1986, Dow entered private practice specialising in criminal law, opening the firm Dow Malakaila, the first all-woman law firm in the country. That year, she became one of the founding members of the first women's group in Botswana
Emang Basadi Ibhang is a town and Village Development Committee in Ilam District in the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of St ...
(Stand Up for Women). In 1988, the firm's name was changed to Dow Lesetedi and Company. That year, she co-founded the organisation Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) to advocate for women and children's rights through litigation. From 1988 to 1991, Dow conducted research for WLSA, helping to complete a regional study on human rights for women in six neighboring countries. In 1990, she helped establish the Metlhaetsile Women's Information Centre to promote education on women's rights under the law. In 1990, Dow filed suit in the
High Court of Botswana The High Court of Botswana is the highest court of Botswana. It is based in Gaborone with branches in Lobatse, Francistown, and Maun. It operates above the Magistrates' Courts of Botswana, but below the Appeal Court. The High Court is headed by t ...
to challenge the Nationality law of Botswana. Under the 1984 Citizenship Act, only
illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
children could derive nationality through their mother. As two of her three children with Peter were born after their marriage, they were not considered Batswana. Fearful that there was a possibility that when Peter's residency permit expired in 1992, her family might be forced to move or split up, Dow initiated Unity Dow v Attorney-General, alleging that the Citizenship Law was discriminatory and contravened her right to avoid demeaning and inhumane punishment. The court found in favour of Dow concurring that the law impacted her free choice of whom to marry, could force her to be separated from her family if her husband and children's residency permits were not renewed, and was discriminatory.


Middle career (1991–2009)

Dow had taken a two-year
sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...
from her law practice in 1991 for the case and during that time, she co-founded the Baobob Primary School in Gaborone and the AIDS Action Trust. She served as a coordinator for WLSA from 1992 to 1994, while the appeal of her case was pending. During the appeal, ''Attorney General v Unity Dow'', the state argued that discrimination against women was protected by the constitutional provisions to preserve the traditional customs of Botswana, which was a
patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
society. The Attorney General also denied that Dow had
standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
, claiming she personally had suffered no actual harm. The
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, led by Judge President Austin Amissah, concluded that sex discrimination contravened the Constitution and that customary tradition could not override the constitutional provisions for equal protection under the law, or the obligations Botswana had under the international agreements to which it was a signatory. On the issue of standing, the court found that she only had to prove that there was a possibility that she would be harmed by the law, not that she had been, and separation from her family would be degrading and inhumane. In a three to two majority decision, the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court ruling with slight modifications, declaring Sections 4 and 5 of the Citizenship Act were unconstitutional. As a result of the landmark ruling, in 1995 the Citizenship Act was amended to remove gender disparity in the acquisition of nationality in Botswana. The ruling became the basis for women's groups throughout Africa to press for change in their nationality laws and eliminate gender disparities, resulting in nearly half of Africa's countries amending legislation on nationality by 2010. From 1994 to 1998, Dow served as the director of the Metlhaetsile Women's Information Centre and during that time published ''The Citizenship Case'' in 1995, detailing the legal proceedings of her case. In 1996, she worked on a case involving
child maintenance Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...
that resulted in an amendment to the laws for support, and in 1997 she presented a case on
battered woman syndrome Battered woman syndrome (BWS) is a pattern of signs and symptoms displayed by a woman who has suffered persistent intimate partner violence: whether psychological, physical, or sexual, from her male partner. It is classified in the ICD-9 (code ) a ...
, considering these to be significant issues for women. That year, Dow was appointed as a judge to the High Court of Botswana, and began serving the court in January 1998. Her appointment marked the first time a woman had been appointed to serve as a judge on the High Court. In 2004, Dow served as part of a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
mission to review the domestic application in
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
of international women's human rights with Ghanaian Charlotte Abaka, former chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; Feride Acar, founding chair of the
Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The ...
's gender and women's studies programme, in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
, Turkey; Dorcas Coker-Appiah, Ghanaian lawyer and co-founder of the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre in
Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
; and South African, Tiyanjana Maluwa, a law professor at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
. Dow was elected as a commissioner of the
International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...
in 2004 and re-elected to the post in 2009. In 2006, she was elected to serve on the executive committee of the International Commission of Jurists with six returning commissioners and three new members, including herself, Vojin Dimitrijević of
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
Raji Sourani Raji Sourani ( ar, راجي الصوراني, born 31 December 1953 in the Gaza Strip) is a human rights lawyer in the Gaza Strip. He is married and is the father of two children, and lives in the Gaza Strip. He was an Amnesty International priso ...
of
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. Dow was the presiding judge, along with Maruping Dibotelo and Mphaphi Phumaphi, for the ''Roy Sesana and Others v. the Government of Botswana'' case brought to the High Court in 2002 by the Basarwa people (sometimes referred to as Kalahari bushmen) concerning their removal from their
ancestral lands Ancestral domain or ancestral lands refers to the Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples, lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The term differs from indigenous land rights, Aboriginal titl ...
in the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of (larger than the Netherlands, and almost 10% of Botswana's total land area), making it the second largest game ...
. Sesana and Keiwa Setlhobogwa brought the case on behalf of 241 other litigants when the Government of Botswana terminated the water supply in the reserve, refused to provide health services and transport for school children, stopped food distribution to orphans and the poor, and attempted the forced removal of the Basarwa from their settlements. They amended their case to include the refusal of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks to permit them to enter the reserve without a permit or issue special game licences to them. After a four-year hearing, in 2006, Dow concluded that termination of services and forced relocation of the Basarwa represented an infringement to their constitutionally protected right to life. She ordered that services be restored and that damages should be paid to those who had been relocated and had no wish to return. On the issue of game licences, all three justices concurred that they had been unlawfully withheld, as although the Department of Wildlife was not obligated to issue permits, they had traditionally done so; withholding them while at the same time stopping rations, impacted the Basarwa peoples' ability to sustain themselves. On the issue of permits to enter the reserve, Dow found that they hampered the Basarwa people in exerting their rights of free movement. The case, according to law professor Clement Ng'ong'ola was the first decision in Botswana to recognise the rights of indigenous people to their ancestral lands. In 2007, Dow served as a member of a special mission of the International Legal Assistance Consortium to assess the Rwandan judicial system and evaluate how the country could emerge from its past of
conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
and rehabilitate its justice system to ensure that defendants in the
1994 genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
cases receive a fair trial. One of the last cases upon which she presided concerned a government tax increase on alcoholic beverages. Dow delayed implementation of the 30 per cent increase and the case was ultimately dropped. She retired from the bench in April 2009 to lecture at the
Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate law school of Washington and Lee University. It is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley reg ...
in
Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines ...
and the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
in Ohio, prior to serving as a visiting professor at
Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
in New York City.


Later career (2010–present)

In February 2010, Dow founded the legal firm Dow & Associates and that same month was sworn in by the Kenyan President as one of the justices on the Interim Independent Constitutional Dispute Resolution Court to help implement Kenya's new
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
. In 2011, she was elected as chair of the Executive Committee of the Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists. That year Dow began to work with Ricki Kgositau and another
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
activist regarding their inability to obtain identity cards with their appropriate gender. At the time in Botswana there was no legal means for transgender people to adjust their gender markers on official documents. When the activists approached the Civil and National Registration office to change their documents, they were advised to obtain a court order. They enlisted Dow to assist them, and she in turn contacted the
Southern African Litigation Centre The Southern Africa Litigation Centre or SALC is a non-profit organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa which supports human rights lawyers in Southern Africa countries with expert legal advice, technical support and funding. SALC was founded ...
to help with legal aid and financial support. To assure that the matter would be given a fair hearing, and eliminate the possibility of losing the case, a decision was made to establish precedent for LGBT rights in a case with less risk of harm and delay the gender marker cases. To that end, Dow represented the human rights organisation LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays & Bisexuals of Botswana) in their case to register their organisation with the Department of Civil and National Registration. The organisation had been refused registration by both the director of the department and Edwin Batshu, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, on the grounds that homosexual acts were illegal in the county. Dow argued that refusing to register the organisation violated the right of free association and advised that the case was not about the right to engage in sexual acts, but whether the members could gather and share their information collectively. In 2014, Justice Terrence Rannowane of the High Court ruled that refusing to register the group and allow them to assemble was in violation of the Constitution, Sections 3, 12, and 13, which grant the right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of assembly respectively. alt=Photograph of two seated women, attended by two witnesses standing beside them, signing documents on a table., Ministers Dow and Macsuzy Mondon (Seychelles) signing a Memo of Understanding for a teacher exchange program, 2015 On 6 July 2012 Dow was appointed by the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
as one of three independent experts to conduct a fact-finding mission on how Israel's West Bank settlements affect Palestinians. That year, she decided to enter politics and joined the
Botswana Democratic Party The Botswana Democratic Party ( abbr. BDP) is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the Vice-President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, and its symbol is a lift jack. The party has ruled Botswana continuously since gaining independenc ...
. She ran in the 2014 general election for the Mochudi West District, but lost her bid for a seat in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
. On 28 October 2014, Dow was nominated, along with six other candidates, by President
Ian Khama Seretse Khama Ian Khama (born 27 February 1953) is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence ...
of Botswana as a special elected member of parliament. Along with Kenneth Matambo, Kitso Mokaila, and Eric Molale, she won the ballot and was appointed as the Assistant Minister of Education in the Government. In February 2015, she was appointed as Minister of Education and Skills Development by Khama, succeeding
Mokgweetsi Masisi Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi (born 21 July 1961) is the fifth and current President of Botswana, serving since 2018. He served as the 8th Vice President of Botswana from 12 November 2014 to 1 April 2018. He was a Member of Parliament in the N ...
, the sitting Vice President of Botswana. During her time in the Ministry, Dow established a programme to train teachers from
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
in Botswana and send Batswana teachers abroad to assist Seychelles with their teacher shortage. She served in that capacity until September 2016, when in a cabinet shuffle, she was appointed as Minister of Basic Education. After Khama stepped down as president in March 2018, Dow was shifted by incoming President Masisi from Education to the post of Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development. On 20 June 2018, in a cabinet reshuffle, she was named Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, swapping her seat in Infrastructure and Housing with Vincent Tina Seretse, who had held International Affairs previously. Masisi won the presidency in the 2019 general election and reconfirmed Dow as Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation for the 12th parliament of Botswana. Along with her daughters Cheshe and Natasha, Dow opened the Dow Academy in Mochudi,
Kgatleng District Kgatleng is one of the districts of Botswana, coterminous with the homeland of the Bakgatla people. Its capital is Mochudi, the hometown of protagonist Precious Ramotswe in Alexander McCall Smith's popular ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' s ...
in January 2020. The private school offers primary and secondary education. In August 2020, Dow relinquished her ministry and was replaced by Lemogang Kwape in a cabinet reshuffle. Dow said of the move, "As a minister you speak predominantly about your portfolio. But the
backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
gives you the liberty to interrogate a wide variety of issues of national interest. The only limitation is my party position on a given subject".


Writing

In 2000, when Dow began publishing fiction, few Batswana writers had produced works which reached an audience outside Botswana. One of the reasons for this was the staunch opposition of the Batswana leadership for the British to merge their territory with that of
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, which led to a defensive resistance to
Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
and also a lack of investment in the nation's infrastructure and academic development. Both her non-fiction and fiction works integrate social and legal issues and their impact on gender and power structures. Each of Dow's works examines social practices which lead to an imbalance of power relationships and fuel
violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...
,
child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...
, the
AIDS crisis The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...
, and
gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...
. Her characters use common sense to resist unreasonable custom but remind the reader of the importance of traditional culture. With her first novel, ''Far and Beyon′'' (2000), Dow focused on a central theme of the AIDS epidemic and violence's effects on families, specifically how women living in a patriarchal society cope with fatherless families because of the devastation it led to in rural Botswana. It explores the limits cultural practices, customs, and institutions place upon girls and women by use of male-oriented structures. In the story, Mara, an illiterate mother with limited ability to support herself, has already had one husband and two sons die from AIDS, another husband abandon her, and her third partner abuse her. Mara attributes her sons' deaths to a hidden enemy and seeks answers from a
diviner Diviner, also referred to as the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE), is an infrared radiometer aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, part of the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program which is studying the Moon. It has been used to create ...
. Though her daughter, Mosadi (meaning woman), known as Mosa, and remaining son, Stan, do not believe the diviner's rituals will explain why their brothers died, they go along with the ceremonies prescribed. When Mosa discovers she is pregnant and abandoned by the father of the child, she decides to have a secret abortion, rather than burden her mother further. In an effort to heal her family, Mosa evaluates social practices which separate men and women and elevate male roles, teaching women to ignore their transgressions. Remaining loyal to her family and culture, she learns to reject the acceptance of reprehensible behaviours in her community. In this way, Dow explores how societal indulgence of and silence about wrongs in society lead to ideological confusion and exploitation of the powerless by those who are more powerful. Similar themes carried into Dow's second novel, ''The Screaming of the Innocent'' (2001), which also examines women's empowerment in a country rife with police corruption, ritual murder, institutional secrecy, and societal silence. Exploring the cultural practice of ''dipheko'', murdering someone to harvest their organs for their magical properties of luck and prosperity, Dow shows how the rich and powerful prey upon the illiterate rural population and buy the silence of authorities. In the book, a little girl is murdered in
the bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia and New Zealand where it is largely synonymous with '' backwoods'' or ''hinterland'', referring to a natural undeveloped area. The fauna and flora contained within this a ...
near her village and information about the case has been suppressed by the police and powerful men of her area. Her dismemberment is hidden in the novel as a symbolic representation of the lack of acknowledgement of such practices in society at large. The protagonist, Amantle Bokaa, who is completing her
national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...
(known in Botswana as Tirelo Sechaba), discovers bloody clothes in a closet of the clinic to which she has been assigned. The clothes belong to an earlier victim, but when presented to the villagers awaken awareness that the fact had been hidden from them. Bokaa, because the villagers believe she will not be viewed in the negative light the authorities hold them, is chosen to speak to the police on behalf of the villagers. Because she is female and a child, she would appear to be powerless, but her education, which taught her the skills to deal with opposition and question beliefs, gives her the power and confidence to challenge the code of silence and social barriers in her way. Dow's work not only draws a spotlight on power relationships, but upon the horrors of ritual murder and
femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russel ...
. She makes clear her belief that women will be the drivers of changes in policy to end such practices. ''Far and Beyon′'' was first issued in Botswana and subsequently published in Australia. ''The Screaming of the Innocent'' was first published in Australia and republished in South Africa in 2003. Her third novel, ''Juggling Truths'', was published that year in Australia and released the following year in South Africa. Dow again evaluated reprehensible cultural practices and social norms with strategies for combating them. Though she previously explored African society and issues caused by opposing Western modernity and local traditionalism, the work focuses on the balancing act of coming to terms with wholesome and unwholesome practices within the local culture. Using the character of Monei, a young girl living in a rural village, Dow examines oral traditions and the use of folklore and legends as an means to instill moral guideposts and as a social control for children. The book questions such topics as the beliefs that killing a
monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...
leads to torrential storms, that befriending someone with
albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
will bring bad luck, or that drinking bull's urine will help one learn to whistle. It also includes tales of a male monster who swallows children and a priest who sexually preys on young girls. The themes in the story link ''Juggling Truths'' to Dow's first two novels and suggest that girls and women are able to develop their strength through education and independent thinking. Dow approaches her analysis of social complexity using a variety of interventions, recognising that there are no simple solutions. ''Juggling Truths'' was a nominee for the Percy FitzPatrick Prize in the young adults category in 2006. Dow's 2007 book ''The Heavens May Fall'' deals with identities in transition from traditional society to a modern globalised world. In Dow's eyes, society is constantly changing; as a result, custom, gender, identity, language, social construction, and institutions are fluid. A reflection of Dow's own life, the story tells of the transition from no paved roads to indoor plumbing and how diamond wealth provided access to education, health care, and utilities. The book is dedicated to her three children, reiterating how perceptions about them have transformed, as they are African, but also share a more complex identity because their father was a US national. In the time the story unfolds they would have been seen by society as foreign. The story tells of Naledi, born before Botswana's modernisation and takes place in the time of Dow's challenge to the nationality law. As a lawyer, Naledi represents vulnerable women and children who need arbitration or legal assistance. She takes a case of a teenaged rape victim and exposes the complicity of the male-dominated legal system, which dismissed the case without a hearing. Though the case is unresolved, the accused was ordered to undergo an HIV test, because his victim had been exposed to unprotected sex, which underscores societal changes and fluidity. Maleness did not give the accused the privilege or power to avoid the test in a country where the legal system has safeguards to include protection for women, despite the fact that the legal system ultimately failed Naledi. Dow contributed to the book ''Schicksal Afrika'' (Fate of Africa) compiled by the former German President
Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; born 22 February 1943) is a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU (of which he is ...
in 2010, which collected works by well-known authors. Her essay focused on colonialism and the distrust Africa has developed for its own wisdom. That year, she also published ''Saturday Is for Funerals'' with
Max Essex Myron Elmer "Max" Essex (born August 17, 1939) is the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, emeritus in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University, Chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Hea ...
, a
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
professor and AIDS researcher. The book is written as a conversation between Dow and Essex. She begins each chapter, telling a true story of a person affected by HIV/AIDS, which is followed by Essex's commentary about testing, antiretroviral drugs, and solutions for Botswana's status as the country with the third highest HIV rate in the world. Though
Helen Epstein Helen Epstein is an American writer of memoir, journalism and biography who lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, United States. Biography Early life and education Helen Epstein is the daughter of Kurt Epstein and Franci Rabinek, both survivors o ...
, a molecular biologist and journalist who writes about HIV/AIDS, lamented that most of Essex's solutions required high technology, she found Dow's stories compelling and showed a willingness of Batswana society to frankly and compassionately tackle its problem with the disease. Fetson Kalua, a professor of English Studies at the
University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...
, called Dow "the most influential writer of fiction in Botswana today".


Honours and awards

Dow has been the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including honorary doctorates of law from
Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...
(Gambier, Ohio, 2001),
Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College (St. Mikes or Saint Michael's) is a private Roman Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont. Saint Michael's was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund. It grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees i ...
(Colchester, Vermont, 2007), and the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland, 2009). She has been recognised for her human rights work with the William Brennan Human Rights Award (2003) of
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
in New Brunswick, New Jersey; the Phyllis N. Stern Distinguished Lectureship Award (2008) of the International Council on Women's Health Issues; and the Prominent Women in International Law Award (2009) of the
American Society of International Law The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...
's Women in International Law Interest Group. She was also a nominee for the
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
's Women Inspiring Change exhibit (2014). On 14 July 2010, she was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French Ambassador to Botswana, Geneviève Iancu. She was honoured with the Global Achievement Award of the Middle East Excellence Award Institute of Dubai for her work in peace and human development initiatives on 11 November 2012.


Selected works


Academic

* * * * * * *Dow, J. U. (2001). How the global informs the local: The Botswana citizenship case. ''Health Care for Women International'', ''22''(4), 319-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399330120965


Literary

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See also

*
First women lawyers around the world This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in each country. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are the first women in their country to achieve a certain distinction su ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Unity 1959 births Living people Botswana judges Botswana women's rights activists Botswana women writers Botswana women judges Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Recipients of the Legion of Honour Botswana expatriates in the United Kingdom University of Botswana alumni Botswana non-fiction writers Botswana novelists 21st-century women writers 21st-century Botswana women politicians 21st-century Botswana politicians Female foreign ministers Women government ministers of Botswana Foreign Ministers of Botswana