A MAN who has spent nearly 15 years in prison for a crime he committed 20 years ago and deeply regrets has urged Namibian men to learn from his mistakes.
After years of rehabilitation, Rachimo !Haradoëb (50), who grew up at Khorixas with his single mother, is speaking out against violence against children and women.
Speaking at a gender-based violence (GBV) sponsorship event hosted by Medscheme in partnership with the One Economy Foundation, !Haradoëb said violence against women and children is the greatest threat to lasting peace and development in Namibia.
“I finished school and went to university not knowing I had an underlying problem with anger until I took somebody’s life,” he said.
“As men we need to shut up and listen. As men it’s time to see past our privilege and recognise we are not just part of the problem, we are the problem,” he said.
It was only when he was introduced to life skills at the correctional facility that !Haradoëb realised he had a problem with anger.
There he participated in programmes teaching him alternatives to violence and how to react to his own anger.
He also urged perpatrators to make peace with themselves.
“I am not proud to stand here in front of you today, but someone has to stand in front of you. Society is not learning – I am telling you as men we need to learn.
“I only have a few words of advice for men: Will you be man enough to stand up to other men when you hear stories of sexual harrassment? […] Will you be man enough to stand up and do something so that we don’t have to live in a Namibia where women have to risk everything and come forward and say the words: ‘I also went through this’?”
Speaking at the event, first lady Monica Geingos said although there are flaws in the criminal justice system that need to be addressed, the real work lies in the prevention of GBV.
“The police cannot be in our homes,” Geingos said.
“We know statistically that the amount of gender-based violence cases reported are a fraction of the cases committed. Of that fraction, the conviction rate is 16%. The majority of people who perpetrate crimes are not arrested. Yet we call the 16% in jail monsters,” she said.
She said protests against GBV last month gave the topic renewed energy.
“I am grateful for those who went to the street,” she said.
The One Economy Foundation also launched a comprehensive GBV report called ‘The Problematic Mindsets Report’, which addresses key themes around GBV.
Geingos said the perspectives of frontline service providers, survivors and perpetrators of GBV are a reminder that the insights of those directly involved in these crimes are useful in guiding the practical application of evidence-based intervention.
The foundation received a N$210 000 sponsorship from Medscheme targeted at GBV research and programmes.
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