Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Winnie Moongo has moved a motion in the National Assembly in which she has called on lawmakers to support the establishment of a sex offenders’ registry as part of a solution to curb sexual violence in society.
A sex offenders’ registry is a portal hosting national database of convicts in offences concerning sexual violence. Moongo, who tabled the motion yesterday, said the registry helps to aid law enforcement officers with an eagle’s eye over potential danger that may be posed from those who have been convicted of crimes of a sexual nature.
She said it would also make it much easier for police to detect would-be re-offenders. “When you open our daily newspapers in the morning, one might think that Namibia is a rapists’ haven. There is not a single day that passes without having to read or hear that a woman, a child, a grandmother, a man or even a newly born baby got raped.
This has become our daily reality, and the statistics do not lie,” she said. According to Moongo, the police recorded 3 164 rape cases between 2016 and 2019 only. This, she said, translates into 1 054 rape incidents per year and about three rape incidents per day. “These are but just the official numbers. Rape is one of the most underreported crime in Namibia, mostly due to the social taboo and victimization that rape victims have to endure,” Moongo said. In fact, she said, the police in 2015 reported that a shocking 79% of rape incidents still go unreported.
“Based on these figures, one will not be exaggerating to label rape as a pandemic in Namibia. We must confront this reality. We have a rape problem in Namibia, and it has of late been manifesting itself through its most ugly and violent forms,” said the youthful MP.
“Our women and children are under siege by these rapists. Rapists in this country have declared war against our mothers, sisters, little sisters and even our little brothers,” she added. Moongo said she was aware of the Child and Protection Care Act passed in the August House in 2015.
However, she said, the Act is more on prohibiting sex offenders to be employed at institutions which provide welfare services to children. Moongo said lawmakers will be failing in their duty to protect the most vulnerable of society if they do not consider the motion with the utmost seriousness it deserves.
She proposed the sex offenders’ registry to be done in a manner whereby a comprehensive register of all sexual offenders has to be developed and updated constantly by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security.
“This register has to be shared with all government institutions, as well as all employers in the public and private sector. This register must also be digitalised and be accessible through a platform run by the home affairs ministry,” she said. According to Moongo, this will enable members of the public to know what convicted sexual offenders are doing and where they reside and are employed.
“All convicted sexual offenders who have served their full sentences and have been released must be on the registered sexual offenders’ database for periods ranging from 15-50 years, depending on the severity of the sexual offence they committed and their likelihood to reoffend.” She said this will not be punishment towards sex offenders, but rather a mechanism that when put in place, will keep the country’s citizens safe from sexual predators.
ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na
Photo: Nampa