Miss Botswana 2025, Ruth Thomas, has mounted a campaign to redefine beauty, restore dignity and build confidence across communities. Styled The Beauty Movement, the campaign has been officially launched
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
Miss Botswana 2025, Ruth Thomas, has launched a social advocacy initiative designed to challenge unrealistic beauty ideals and their impact on confidence and dignity.
Styled The Beauty Movement, it is rooted in her experience as a professional beauty advisor who witnessed the hidden struggles that many women and girls face under societal pressure.
Redefining narratives
The campaign is about asserting that beauty is not a rigid standard but a personal choice grounded in self-love.
It aims to highlight groups that are often overlooked in beauty conversations, including women with vitiligo, burn survivors, and those with permanent scars.
“Resilience, purpose and practical action can turn setbacks into stepping stones,” Thomas said. “Every being is art, and differences are forms of freedom.”
The first phase of the initiative – which is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals – will roll out through a social media campaign and national dialogue series called Beauty Conversations.
The bane of Hatsalatladi
The second phase will begin in Hatsalatladi Village where counselling, skills training, and empowerment programmes in sewing, baking, and basket weaving will be implemented in partnership with the Ratong Centre.
At the project launch in Gaborone recently, social worker Jacob Pule of Kweneng District Council noted that poverty, gender-based violence, and limited education opportunities are the bane of Hatsalatladi.
He believes the collaboration can restore confidence and create long-term opportunities.
An all-embracing movement
With support from the Miss Botswana Organisation, Project124, and Ratong Centre, The Beauty Movement aims to tackle low self-esteem, promote dignity, and link mental well-being to economic empowerment.
The Director of Miss Botswana, Ben Raletsatsi, said the project reflects Botswana’s broader beauty – its people, culture and places – and has the potential to position communities like Hatsalatladi as sources of pride and resilience.