Women treated as ‘property’

THE Police, especially their Woman and Child Protection Unit, should receive more money and support to enable them to help victims of gender violence, a national conference has recommended.

Another recommendation was that traditional authorities should bring customary laws in line with the Namibian Constitution in order to curb violence against women and girls. The first national conference to discuss the obvious gap between the legal framework and the grim reality on the ground ended on Friday and came up with specific recommendations to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, which organised the four-day meeting.”We adopted a zero tolerance for gender-based violence, since it is a violation of human rights,” said facilitator Gladys Mutukwa.”People have to be taught how to solve problems in a non-violent manner.Relationship skills should be taught at all levels – churches, schools, among traditional authorities and even academic institutions.”The gruesome discovery of dismembered female body parts around Windhoek last week left conference delegates speechless on how to practically deal with physical abuse of women and girls, however.The alleged “sexual initiation” of a young girl at a Caprivi village recently – who was raped by a man in the presence of her parents in order to “teach her sexual behaviour” – underscored the necessity for the nation to act, conference delegates said.Prime Minister Nahas Angula, who officiated at the closing ceremony, said it was evident from daily reports in the media that gender-based violence had reached alarming proportions.”Due to some traditional stereotypes, women and girls are viewed as second-class citizens and – worse – the properties of men.I urge all traditional leaders to address these harmful traditional practices within our communities,” he emphasised.The approximately 350 delegates, among them a large number of men, agreed that poverty and the economic disempowerment of women make them even more vulnerable to gender-based violence, therefore appropriate poverty alleviation measures should be put in place.Gender issues should be included in school curricula from pre-school to tertiary level, “so that people grow up in a culture of equality, peace and respect for each other”, delegates decided.As culture is not static, there should be “courage to discard those elements of culture and tradition that make women (and girls) vulnerable to violence and abuse”.It was also decided that the Woman and Child Protection Unit of the Police, which has 15 offices in the country, but is inadequately staffed and equipped, should receive more money to support their work and to set up offices in more towns.They should also be able to provide shelter for women and children who are victims of violence and abuse.There was a dire need for more social workers and bursaries should be made available to Namibians in order to increase the number of qualified social workers, the conference recommended on Friday.Forensic services required more money to provide accurate and timely evidence to convict more perpetrators of gender-based crimes.The Judiciary has a 16 per cent conviction rate in crimes against women and girls, which was too low, the conference found.A better success rate could only be achieved if more money and equipment were allocated.Delegates also strongly felt that victims should be allowed to make sworn statements in their home language to improve accuracy.At community level, the conference resolved that task forces or special committees should be set up to monitor the envisaged zero-tolerance campaign.The first national conference to discuss the obvious gap between the legal framework and the grim reality on the ground ended on Friday and came up with specific recommendations to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, which organised the four-day meeting.”We adopted a zero tolerance for gender-based violence, since it is a violation of human rights,” said facilitator Gladys Mutukwa.”People have to be taught how to solve problems in a non-violent manner.Relationship skills should be taught at all levels – churches, schools, among traditional authorities and even academic institutions.”The gruesome discovery of dismembered female body parts around Windhoek last week left conference delegates speechless on how to practically deal with physical abuse of women and girls, however.The alleged “sexual initiation” of a young girl at a Caprivi village recently – who was raped by a man in the presence of her parents in order to “teach her sexual behaviour” – underscored the necessity for the nation to act, conference delegates said.Prime Minister Nahas Angula, who officiated at the closing ceremony, said it was evident from daily reports in the media that gender-based violence had reached alarming proportions.”Due to some traditional stereotypes, women and girls are viewed as second-class citizens and – worse – the properties of men.I urge all traditional leaders to address these harmful traditional practices within our communities,” he emphasised.The approximately 350 delegates, among them a large number of men, agreed that poverty and the economic disempowerment of women make them even more vulnerable to gender-based violence, therefore appropriate poverty alleviation measures should be put in place.Gender issues should be included in school curricula from pre-school to tertiary level, “so that people grow up in a culture of equality, peace and respect for each other”, delegates decided.As culture is not static, there should be “courage to discard those elements of culture and tradition that make women (and girls) vulnerable to violence and abuse”.It was also decided that the Woman and Child Protection Unit of the Police, which has 15 offices in the country, but is inadequately staffed and equipped, should receive more money to support their work and to set up offices in more towns.They should also be able to provide shelter for women and children who are victims of violence and abuse.There was a dire need for more social workers and bursaries should be made available to Namibians in order to increase the number of qualified social workers, the conference recommended on Friday.Forensic services required more money to provide accurate and timely evidence to convict more perpetrators of gender-based crimes.The Judiciary has a 16 per cent conviction rate in crimes against women and girls, which was too low, the conference found.A better success rate could only be achieved if more money and equipment were allocated.Delegates also strongly felt that victims should be allowed to make sworn statements in their home language to improve accuracy.At community level, the conference resolved that task forces or special committees should be set up to monitor the envisaged zero-tolerance campaign.