Unity Dow’s life’s work has always revolved around justice. Before becoming Botswana’s first-ever female high court judge in 1998, she was a human rights lawyer and an activist dedicated to gaining justice for the disadvantaged and marginalised. “We see the world through a lens of what’s important to us and filter the world through our own sense of justice,” she says so softly that I have to lean in close to hear her. Dow’s accomplishments have been no mean feat and beneath the subtle tones one senses a keen strength. She is most famed for the 1992 Botswana landmark nationality law ruling, which allowed mothers to pass their nationality on to their children. Dow brings her concerns about the society she lives in to her writing.”As a judge, obviously I have a special way of communicating with the public, but I was an activist before I became a judge,” says Dow. “For me, writing fiction is a way of communicating with the wider public in a way I would otherwise not do.” Far and Beyon’, her first novel, explored the schisms between traditional culture and Western values as well as HIV/Aids and poverty. In her latest, The Screaming of the Innocent (Double Storey), powerful men conceive of a plot to abduct 12-year-old Neo Kakang for dipheko (muti) in a rural Botswanan village. The local police blame her disappearance on wild animals and the case is closed. Five years later Amantle Bokaa uncovers a box filled with bloodstained clothes and so begins a fast-paced story about ordinary people looking to expose corruption and seeking justice.”This is not the story of any particular killing,” Dow says, “but the fiction is informed by different cases, especially one that happened in 1994.” Amantle begins timidly, eventually coming into her personal power, becoming a strong and fearless female protagonist. Dow smiles wryly when I ask her if Amantle is a tad autobiographical. “You choose your main characters because you like something about them. She’s a woman who clearly grew up in a male-dominated society and I wanted her to be a role model.” Lisego Disanka, corrupt, adulterous and bloodthirsty, is also a good father who loves his children. “Big monsters don’t come with a big M on their forehead,” says Dow. “It’s a comment about how adults fail children.” The book reads like a thriller, except we know who is responsible right from the start — the suspense lies in wondering whether justice will prevail. It ends ambiguously with the potential for retribution in the hands of a young woman. Ritual killing may be at the centre of the book, but it also tackles lack of education, poverty, cor-ruption and patriarchies. “Botswana is a very male-dominated and patriarchal society. My book reflects that culture,” says Dow. “I’m influenced by fairness and am trained to see that we’re not all equal. I see stories around me all the time.” According to the book, the conspiracy surrounding ritual murder reaches far into the upper echelons of power. “It has to do with gaining power, and retaining power,” affirms Dow. It is never easy to be the truth-teller and expose the ills of a society, but Dow doesn’t shy away from controversy. In her books she throws light on shadowy areas. “Even our silences are political. When we choose not to engage, we choose to leave the status quo as it is,” she says. “I’m an activist for women’s rights, children and the poor. I want to challenge the status quo.” For Dow her writing provides a mirror for the reader to hold up and do a self-audit and ask: Is this my world? Dow’s book is enlightening, teaching us about what ails our African continent. She is at work preparing for her third novel to hit the shelves and has a fourth in the pipeline. She says, “My books are not entertainment in the pure sense of the word. I write to raise issues. It’s our responsibility — each and every one of us — to make this Earth a better place.”