By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
While the media can play a critical role in influencing perceptions, the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare Marlene Mungunda says the local media is failing to report gender-based violence adequately.
There is general consensus that not enough is being done to report on gender-based violence and its linkages to HIV/AIDS in Namibia, said the minister.
Gender-based violence, according to the World Development Report, is “harm perpetrated against any person (female or male) that is instigated or exacerbated by exploiting social roles ascribed to men and women.”
Mungunda who spoke at the Editors Forum Breakfast Meeting in Windhoek yesterday revealed that 971 cases of rape were reported in 2006 compared to 931 in 2005.
Despite these high figures, she feels ordinary Namibian women’s voices remain unheard in the media.
Even if cultural beliefs and attitudes still play a role in hindering women and girls to come out and report such incidences, Mungunda lamented: “Gender issues do not make news headlines or breaking news and are not afforded enough space in the media.”
She appealed to media practitioners to also tell the story of victims and the lasting impact the act of crime has on them, family, society and the country at large.
“There is no sense of loss created through reports, it is just like a normal occurrence,” she said.
The minister urged the media in the country to acquaint themselves and reveal factors related to what could be the possible causes and solutions to gender-based violence.
“I believe that the media has the capacity and proper resources to educate and influence our population’s attitudes and behaviour concerning gender-based violence,” she said.
Mungunda sees a need for strong partnerships with key people that will ensure that gender-based violence make news highlights and Namibians gets educated and informed on gender-based violence.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Simon Nhongo at the same occasion stressed the importance of media indulgence in fighting this sensitive and yet complex problem. According to Nhongo, gender-based violence is an enormous development challenge that is deeply rooted in the social structure of gender inequality.
Gender-based violence also fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS and destroys women’s ability to break through intergenerational cycles of poverty.
When cases of violence are not reported or exposed, Nhongo says, an environment is created that encourages perpetrators to get off free to continue the vicious cycle of violence and abuse.
In order for the cycle of violence and discrimination against women to be broken, he suggests that Government and society change the way they view this problem. However, the media can play a very vital role in this respect by reporting more on gender-based violence while protecting the victim’s rights to confidentiality.
Currently, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare is preparing for the first-ever national conference on gender violence.
This problem has been persistent in the Namibian society and based on research conducted by the ministry two years ago, about 600 rape cases and an additional 150 attempted rape cases are reported annually.
Experts believe that on average, one of 20 rapes that occur is reported to the police. This implies that only 5 percent of all incidents are reported, while the remaining 95 percent go unnoticed or are resolved out of court.
Data also clearly indicates that domestic violence is a gender-based crime in which men are the perpetrators (98%) and females are the survivors.
The conference will bring together close to 350 participants from different institutions. It will attempt to formulate a common strategy to be used in fighting these malevolent practices.
The conference will be held under the theme “Unifying Action to Eliminating Gender-Based Violence in Our Society”.