Staff Reporter
Windhoek-To mark the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the United Nations resident coordinator, who is also the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative, Anita Kiki Gbeho, on Friday said Namibia has good stories to tell when it comes to gender.
“Namibia is the third most gender-equal country in Africa. Namibian parliamentarians have committed to mainstream gender into laws and support sexual and reproductive health and rights as part of the UN’s He for She campaign,” said Gbeho.
“About seven percent of girls in Namibia are married before the age of 18. One third of Namibian rape victims are under the age of 18 and 33 percent of women aged 15-49 years have experienced some form of violence,” said Gbeho.
She added that solid data is required to manage strategies to indicate where GBV challenges us most. “To understand which laws and policies to adjust and to know with whom to engage if attitudes and practices are to be changed.”
Furthermore, she said that Namibians should be asked to actively support campaigns such as First Lady Monica Geingos’ #Break Free 2 #Be Free from violence movement.
“As your partner of choice, the UN stands in solidarity with Namibians who have been beaten, raped and killed. We stand ready to act to ensure there are no more Martha Afrikaners. Martha, aged 22, was hacked to death by her boyfriend. Nor Magdalena Stoffels – Magdalena was raped and murdered in a riverbed on her way to school,” said Gbeho.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Doreen Sioka, said the government has established 17 gender-based violence protection units in the country’s 14 regions. The aim is to provide effective services to GBV victims and their families, added Sioka.