By Frieda Mukufa
I read an article in one of our local newspapers that advocated for men in all career paths to be named and shamed for impregnating school girls. This was said to have been mentioned by the executive director of education, Sanet Steenkamp.
I am all for the naming and shaming of these men, but what I would like to address is that this is not supposed to be a shaming game, because naming and shaming these men is not enough – they are sexual offenders; arrest them!
We all know that from these incidents, the man is never ashamed of his acts nor is he remorseful. This is because, in society, men are applauded for sleeping with young girls – schoolgirls to be precise.
Their fellow men would high-five these individuals because of the ‘okadilona nako onyama’ mentality they have.
However, after naming these men, nothing actually happens to them to show the severity of the offence they committed, which is statutory rape.
According to the Combating Rape Act 8 of 2000, it is rape when a person commits any of the defined sexual acts with a child under the age of 14 if that person is at least three years older than the child – even if there is no force or coercion.
In most of these cases, the girls who get impregnated by these older men are as young as 14 and not older than 16 or 17.
In the Ohangwena region alone, 443 schoolgirls fell pregnant between March and July 2020, and an even higher number of these girls did not return to school because of stigma and shame.
Again, ask yourself, how will shaming these rapists help to alleviate the high number of pregnancies among schoolgirls?
If an older man is not even the slightest bit ashamed about approaching a schoolgirl for sexual relations, what about putting his name out there without arresting him?
Do we think that will stop him or other men with the same intentions from engaging with more schoolgirls?
Yes, they are named and shamed but are their lives and opportunities actually cut short, or do they continue with their lives as if nothing happened?
Most of the men who impregnate these young girls are known in the communities and sometimes men who have watched these girls grow up.
Because they are known and prominent people in the communities, matters are swept under the mat, and no other consequence follows the man because he will be pardoned if he can take care of the mother and child when it is born. What about the livelihood of the girls these actions destroy?
What about the setbacks that come with carrying a pregnancy to term at age 14? What happens to this child who has to give birth to another child; how will their emotional well-being be in the long run?
How long should women be allowed to carry consequences of actions they should not? The justice system in this country needs to start catering to women too. Yes, name and shame him but arrest him because he is a rapist.
Sweeping things under the carpet and allowing for these very same men to continue as if nothing happened is doing injustice to the victims.
We should also have a sex offender registry so that we know who the rapists are.
These people should serve their sentences so that it is a lesson for other rapists. Sobisoo, these perpetrators may not even have shame. Only the victim carries the shame of being raped.
* Frieda Mukufa’s lifestyle section concentrates on women-related issues and parenting every Friday in the New Era newspaper. She also specialises in editing research proposals, proofreading as well as content creation.
– etuholefrieda@gmail.com