Botswana faces UK, UN censure as diplomatic abuse scandal goes global

Behind every flag raised and champagne glass toasted in Botswana’s name abroad, lurks a dark secret: A women trapped in unpaid labour and sometimes abused, whose suffering is expected to spark an international scandal.

At the centre of this looming storm is a trail of unpaid, overworked, systematically unrecognized and often abused women, the trailing spouses of Botswana’s diplomats whose quite sacrifices underpin the nations’ image, yet whose lives remain unprotected and undervalued.