By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – Despite the high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) there is only a single shelter to accommodate more than 18 women and their children in Windhoek at a time when GBV is reportedly on the increase.
Besides that, the Friendly Haven shelter has only been occupied on average by 30 percent of its total intake, a state of affairs blamed on limited awareness among communities on the existence of women’s shelters and a lapse in the referral system.
This was revealed by a study on gender-based violence titled “Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Namibia: An Exploratory Assessment and Mapping of GBV Response Services in Windhoek.”
GBV survivors can only be housed at Friendly Haven after the Women and Child Protection Unit (WCPU), psychologists, and civil society organisations, such as Lifeline/Childline, Peace Centre and the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), have referred them to the shelter.
However, it seems that social workers at the WCPU do not refer the majority of women to the Friendly Haven for safety.
In addition, abused women and their children can only stay up to 21 days in the shelter and have to look for alternative accommodation after that, which leaves them vulnerable as they have limited financial means while a lack of transitional housing could leave them with no option but to move in back with the abuser.
The report further states that the community system response in Windhoek seems to be weak, while community mobilization, face-to-face education and grassroots level service provision related to GBV appear also to be limited
“According to a 2009 study on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to GBV, physical and emotional violence was considered culturally acceptable given its consistence with traditional social norms and the notion that private matters were not the business of the community,” reads the report.
The study made recommendations to end GBV, among them, to classify GBV as a national emergency, strengthen linkages between the medical, law enforcement and legal responses to GBV, implement a GBV budget for Namibia, and develop a comprehensive and harmonized system for effective documentation of GBV.
It also called for the establishment of a free national GBV helpline, an integrated GBV survivors support programme, the involvement of men and boys in preventing and responding to GBV using a human-rights based approach, and increasing government funding of civil society response services for GBV survivors.
GBV is rampant in Namibia with rape being the most prevalent crime between January and April 2013 with 122 cases reported, according to the Namibian Police.
GBV is a form of discrimination that seriously violates and impairs the enjoyment of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of survivors.
There is a lack of consistency and sensitivity with procedures applied to combat domestic violence in the legal/judicial system in Namibia. More so, availability and support also remain a weakness in the protection system, revealed the study.