THE student representative council of the University of Namibia has condemned sexual assaults on their campuses and elsewhere after a number of rape survivors named and shamed alleged perpetrators accused of rape.
In a statement that Unam’s student representative council posted on Twitter on 1 May, the SRC strongly condemned gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence against women.
“The SRC has taken note of the allegations of sexual violence brought forward by a number of ladies against a particular student. We take this very seriously, and the office responsible will launch an investigation into the matter with the assistance of the Office of the Dean of Students,” it read.
A number of Namibian women took to social media this week to publicly accuse alleged perpetrators of sexual assault and rape. What started off as one story told by a rape survivor on Twitter early this week led to a chain of other victims coming forward with vivid recollections of the incidents when they said they were raped.
In several screenshots that circulated on social media, the women making the accusations accompanied their statements with the names of their alleged rapist.
On Wednesday, Namibia’s first lady, Monica Geingos, joined the discussion on Twitter, stating: “We will not assist those seeking to make legal claims because they have been accused – they are free to enforce their rights if they have been defamed. We will assist those who have told their stories and are being threatened.”
One of the men claiming to have been defamed when he was named as an alleged perpetrator of sexual assault on Thursday had a letter of demand by his lawyer, Nambili Mhata, delivered to a woman who had named him.
In the letter, the woman was accused of having defamed him by calling him a rapist – a claim she was repeating after it had originally been made by a person using a Twitter account without a person’s name attached to it.
Mhata demanded that she retract her Twitter post about him by the close of business on Friday.
He also demanded that she had to post an apology to his client on her Twitter account for at least two weeks.
Unam SRC spokesperson Maximalliant Katjimune told on Thursday that a number of the alleged incidents of rape took place at Unam’s hostels.
“Due to the nature of the allegations, it is only supposed rumours on social media,” Katjimune said.
According to him, because the institution has its own code of conduct, the university has the authority to deliver its own judgement on students who have been charged with rape and sexual assault.
“The legal committee of student parliament, which is led by the SRC vice president, has called upon all victims and anybody who has information to come forward to aid in the investigation,” he said.
He went on to say that the investigations are confidential.
The spokesperson added that the SRC will have a vigil on its main campus in Windhoek today (Friday) in solidarity with the victims of sexual assault.
“We will speak against such things, they have been going on for many years at the university and it’s time we take a stand for such acts,” he stated.
Commenting on the situation on Thursday, a police spokesperson, chief inspector Kauna Shikwambi, cautioned that there could be repercussions for the people who name and shame on social media.
“If rape could not be proven then you are defaming the person,” Shikambi said.
She stated that rape suspects would be apprehended sooner if the complainants came to the police to open a case immediately after the rape took pace.
According to her, some victims do not report rape cases immediately because of the fear of victimisation and to protect their own family.
She continued to say it is important that complainants open a case with the police against any sex offenders to discourage them from moving on to the next victim.
Although she stated that evidence is important, Shikwambi said victims should approach the police regardless of the time the rape took place.
“We never send anybody away, if you feel that you have been violated you can still report the suspect,” she stated.
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