Hundreds of stakeholders were prompted to meet at Windhoek for a four day national conference to seek solutions to the string of horrible and cruel forms of violence that is plaguing Namibia. 350 delegates representing government, civil society, traditional leaders and religious groups came together on Tuesday to find a solution to the thorny issue of gender-based violence.
The meeting came together two days after the latest incident in which a young woman was murdered and her head, legs and arms were savagely hacked off. The remaining parts of her body was dumped in a bin on the road between Okahandja and Windhoek.
Marlene Mungunda, Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, says these incidents show that Namibia is fighting a vicious enemy. She stated that the problem called for “watertight strategies.”
The police have been criticized for failing to arrest perpetrators committing gender-based violence, especially those committing crimes that are gruesome and shocking to the public. The minister made a passionate appeal to the Namibian police and other law enforcers to assure that the perpetrators of gender-based violence, particularly those committing bizarre murders, are arrested.
Namibia is among countries in the SADC region that have good legislation on children and women’s rights. However, the effective implementation of these laws is being doubted in some regions.
Norman Tjombe, Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) Director, said, “Gender-based violence is Namibia’s main human rights problem.” Tjombe singled out rape and said 60 rape cases out of 100, 000 persons in the country are recorded every year. While society has viewed rape as an incident where the female is always the victim and the male the perpetrator, shockingly one out of 14 victims is a man or a boy.
The conference is being held under the theme “Unifying Action to Eliminating Gender-Based Violence in Our Society.”
For more information please see:
AllAfrica – Namibia: Meeting to Thrash Out Gender Violence – 19 June 2007
AllAfrica – Namibia: Mungunda Calls On ‘Supernatural’ to Help Fight Violence – 20 June 2007
AllAfrica – Namibia: Violence Conference Begins Huge Task – 20 June 2007
