Given the escalating sexual health crisis in Botswana, this is a timely and important study which will inform wider social and human rights debates. It explodes the myth that the family in Botswana is not the safe haven for children it is perceived to be. Child abuse is usually committed during the day, within the home or neighbourhood and at school or church; it is rarer around places perceived as risky, such as night clubs. Incest and defilement are usually committed against girls by older relatives whom they have benn taught to trust and look to for protection.