Gender Ministry active in reducing violence in society: Mungunda

UNFORTUNATELY, many societies across the globe regard gender-based violence – such as husbands beating wives for refusing to have sex or not preparing food on time – as ‘normal’.

However, Namibia has several laws in place to curb this and civil society organisations in the country are active in their campaigns, Gender Equality and Child Welfare Minister Marlene Mungunda told Parliament.In her contribution to the ongoing debate on the topic, Mungunda said it was a shame to hear that some boys and men believed ‘the (female) victim of a sexual assault was to blame and may even have provoked her assault.’She said civil society organisations like Namec (Namibian Men engaged in Change) and the White Ribbon Organisation against Violence were active in educating men and boys on how to resolve conflicts at home and in life peacefully.’President Hifikepunye Pohamba launched the National Advisory Committee on Gender-based Violence last November after Cabinet recommended the establishment of a high-level ministerial committee,’ Minister Mungunda pointed out. Her Ministry’s officials held sensitisation workshops in communities countrywide, as well as legal literacy workshops targeting traditional leaders and Police officers to explain the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, the Combating of Rape Act, the Married Persons Equality Act and the Maintenance Act. ‘This is done so people know their rights, responsibilities and obligations under these laws.’ Radio broadcasts and advertisements in cooperation with stakeholders were also ongoing.According to Mungunda, gender-based violence ran across the whole spectrum of society and was not only experienced among lower income groups. ‘Even men become victims of gender-based violence, the social scourge was not only targeting females,’ Mungunda added. Her Ministry would start a zero-tolerance campaign against gender-based violence and human trafficking on July 31 at Oshikango.Mungunda briefly touched on human trafficking, saying her Ministry and the inter-ministerial committee on gender-based violence were currently developing a multi-sectoral national action plan after it had carried out a study on the topic two months ago.According to a press release on Cabinet resolutions last Friday, issued by the Information Ministry, the study found only two cases of human trafficking. In one case a Zambian national exploited boys for labour and the second case involved a Namibian mother from the North, who used her own daughter for ‘sexual exploitations in Walvis Bay’.