The gruesome murder of a six-year-old boy at Karibib and the circumstances in which his body parts were found would have shocked many.
Others’ sensitivities may have been blunted by the regular media reports of Namibian children being raped and brutalised in several ways.
Exposure to alcohol and drugs, the absence of parents, and dysfunctional families could be blamed for the upsurge in violent crime against children.
But what do you blame for the seemingly senseless killing of Adrian Myne Oswyn in Karibib?
He disappeared last week, and then body parts suspected to be his were found floating at a sewage pond in Karibib this week.
His torso and his head were found on Wednesday morning within the same vicinity as the other remains. The media regularly report on the most egregious crimes committed against children, who do not only have to deal with the crimes against them, but also the violence of poverty and deprivation.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), more than half of the children in the country are poor, while 43.3% of Namibia’s total population lives in poverty.
Elsewhere in today’s paper, we report on an astonishing number of rapes being committed between January 2021 and July 2022.
While 597 adult men and women were raped in 2021, 611 juveniles (under-18s) were raped during the same time.
Namibian criminals rape more children than adults. Namibia’s children are in crisis and we all need to ask ourselves how we contribute to that, and how we can help.
Today’s brutalised children are tomorrow’s adult violent criminals.
What we do know is that experiencing violence in childhood impacts your health and well-being lifelong. It also impacts on health and well-being of families, communities and nations.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), violence against children can result in negative coping and health risk behaviours. Children exposed to violence and other adversities are substantially more likely to smoke, misuse alcohol and drugs, and engage in high-risk sexual behaviour.
They also have higher rates of anxiety, depression, other mental health problems, and suicide.
Violence against children and violence in the presence of children should be prevented at all costs. Preventing and responding to violence against children requires that efforts systematically address risk and protective factors at the individual, relationship, community and societal levels.
The WHO identified seven strategies (spelling INSPIRE) to reduce violence against children. They include Implementation and enforcement of laws; Norms and values’ change; safe environments; parental and caregiver support; Income and economic strengthening; responsive services’ provision and education and life skills.
We have a crisis on our hands. The sooner we realise it, the faster we can act on it. The nation’s children need help.