Understanding Namibia’s Child Sex Offenders

Child sexual abuse is a serious concern in Namibia. 

This was sadly underlined by the rape and murder of two young girls at Okahandja in April. 

It left many Namibians asking, “What kind of a person is capable of committing such a heartless act on a child?”

To try and understand the dark side of human behaviour, my doctorate studies reviewed profiles of Namibian adult child sex offenders. 

The study examined 183 adult men incarcerated in correctional facilities across Namibia for child sexual abuse.

The results revealed that a typical child sex offender in Namibia is, on average, single, 30 years-old, with a primary school education level and no history of criminal conviction.

Although most offenders were employed, they had low-income jobs such as farm labourers and casual construction workers.

Child sex offenders predominately assaulted female victims to whom they were not biologically related but with whom they were acquainted. 

‘TYPICAL’ TRAITS

Generally, offenders’ criminal behaviour displayed strategies applied prior to, during and post assault to select or gain access to the victim.
It showed that offenders predominately engaged in vaginal and anal penetration of female and male children.

There was little evidence of grooming and obtained access to the children through promises of giving them money or gifts.

It signals criminality rather than sexual attraction towards children. 

This type of offender belongs to a category referred to as criminally motivated child sex offenders.

Unlike paedophilic-motivated child sex offenders, criminally motivated offenders are not necessarily attracted to children’s physical or psychological characteristics.

Their behaviour is mainly due to their inability to adequately deal with the challenges of daily life such as economic pressures and difficulties in maintaining adult relationships.

This may trigger feelings of hopelessness and despair, resulting in an offender experiencing a temporary departure from attraction to adults.

However, the mere presence of an inability to manage life’s challenges is not always adequate to stimulate criminal coping behaviours.

UNIQUE CASES

It is theorised that antisocial cognitions facilitate sexual abuse behaviour when the opportunity arises.

Consequently, sexual abuse of children may be a symbolic displacement of aggression and violence facilitated by antisocial cognitions.  
During the study, I came across a case where the sexual abuse of a child escalated to murder.

In another case, the sexual violence occurred after the murder of the child.

Both cases were excluded from the study as these types of offenders presented unique criminal profiles from whose who do not murder their victims. 

Child sex offenders who murder their victims are likely to have maladaptive personality traits such as antisocial behaviour, borderline personality disorder and psychopathy, which may co-exist with other disorders including paraphilias.

Child sex offenders with the co-occurrence of atypical sexual preferences and psychopathy – though quite rare – are the most lethal type of offenders. 

APPROACHES

It is important to recognise that child sex offenders are diverse, and there is a need to understand their criminal profiles.

Such information holds significant implications for the assessment and development of effective rehabilitation programmes for offenders, as well as guiding preventative and self-protective programmes for children. 

As in other cases involving deviance, strategic and sustainable approaches on sexual crimes against children, there needs to be a collaborative effort from key players such as policymakers, law enforcement agencies, academics and researchers.

High quality research is pivotal to establishing evidence-based approaches and policies aimed at addressing this social plague.  

• – Ndeyapo Nafuka holds a PhD in psychology with a specialisation in forensic psychology. She is the head of the directorate of rehabilitation in the Namibian Correctional Service. This article is written in her personal capacity.

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