7 000 applications for protection orders in 5 years

IN THE past five years, more than 7 000 applications for protection orders were submitted to the police and 5 493 of them were issued while 3 377 were served.

According to national statistics dating back to 2010 and made available by the police at the request of The Namibian, 2 533 orders were finalised, while 1 152 were withdrawn. It is not clear how many protection orders were issued against men and how many against women.

Police spokesperson Edwin Kanguatjivi said anyone can apply for a protection order if someone’s actions make them feel unsafe.

“The person can be a spouse, friend, or a family member. There are laws to help protect you if someone makes you feel threatened because he or she threatens or hurts you or a member of your family or repeatedly shows up at your home, school or place of work and damages your property or the property of a family member among others,” Kanguatjivi explained.

There have been several cases of women who were killed by their partners, even though they had protection orders in place. This has become a major concern to most people, including First Lady Monica Geingos.

During her visit to a women’s shelter in Windhoek recently, Geingos said her office was looking at the issue of protection orders.

“We need to take an in-depth look at the issuing of protection orders. If someone received an order, they should be protected, and something should not happen first,” she said.

Apart from the issue of how protection orders are issued, the other worry has been the huge number of orders that are withdrawn.

The Legal Assistance Centre coordinator of gender research and advocacy, Dianne Hubbard, said it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of protection orders because there are so many factors involved.

“… the ambivalence of some complainants, conflicting attitudes on the part of children or extended family members, and whether or not violations of the protection order are promptly reported to the police and decisively punished,” Hubbard said in a 2012 report.

A woman, who endured abuse after securing a protection order, said she does not trust the system. The woman stayed in a shelter for about a year because she feared her husband.

She told The Namibian that sometimes a magistrate will require proof that a person is being abused before issuing an order.

According to the woman, a protection order expires after a year if the person does not pose any threat and in her husband’s case, he did not stop abusing her and she could not prove it.

She said when the year expired, he moved back into the house.

“I had to move out because I could not subject my children to abuse anymore. I did not feel protected anymore,” she said.

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