One of the lawyers representing gays and lesbians, Tshiamo Rantao told a panel of three justices that a study paper that was authored by academics at the University of Botswana and a South African researcher has shown that the minority group suffers the worst form of stigma, intolerance, homophobia and violence.
Rantao also told the court that the government itself has acknowledged in documents, law and research that lesbians and gays face and experience violence and discrimination.
He argued that when the law was made to criminalise same sex relations the society was not ready to accept homosexuals but now is the time to change the law as society has changed.
The society has become tolerant to the gays and lesbian community.
For his part, Advocate Sidney Pilane who is representing the the Attorney General argued that there is no research or evidence in Botswana to show that the attitudes of citizens have softened towards gays and lesbians to warrant decriminalising same sex.
He said the Court cannot rely on such documents and that they must be interrogated further before accepting them.
Gays and lesbians are challenging the constitutionality of sections 164(a), 164(c) and 167 of the Botswana Penal Code.
These provisions criminalise same-sex conduct between consenting adults in Botswana and impose a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.