Windhoek
The Namibian Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) and its stakeholder partners from SADC yesterday called for a stop to gender-based violence (GBV) in Namibia and SADC in general.
Delegates made the impassioned appeal in Windhoek when NAPPA launched its sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) report.
The Minister of Gender Equality Child Welfare Doreen Sioka in a statement delivered on her behalf by her deputy, Lucia Witbooi, said the government highly recommends that civil society organizations implement GBV programmes to complement and supplement the implementation of the national plan of action on GBV (2012-2016).
“Studies have shown that SGBV is common in the HIV hyper-endemic countries of Southern Africa. In a 2002 survey across eight countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) it was found that 18 per cent of women aged 16 to 60 years had experienced intimate partner violence in the past 12 months,” stated Sioka.
“In a repeat survey across the same countries in 2007 one in every five youths aged 12-17 years said they had been forced or coerced to have sex.” Bravo Linosi the executive director of NAPPA said they can bridge the difference between despair and hope in the life of a person who has experienced violence due to their sex or gender.
The 365 days of activism which is an extension of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence has failed to curb the scourge of GBV in Namibia, where up to 822 cases were reported so far this year.
“The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare with First Lady Monica Geingos recently launched the Zero Tolerance Campaign against GBV 2015 under the theme ‘Spot it to stop it’, and other countries in Southern Africa also engaged in initiatives to develop action plans to end violence against women,” commented Linosi.
Sioka said that as per a report by the Namibian Police, rape was the most prevalent crime between January and August 2014 – with 2 809 cases reported.
“The 2013 Namibian demographic and health survey states 32 per cent of every married woman aged 15 – 49 have experienced physical violence at least once since the age of 15 and 14 per cent experienced physical violence within the 12 months, and six per cent experienced violence during pregnancy,” said Sioka.
“The triumph of evil has had its way for too long, let us join hands for the betterment of society,” concluded Sioka