Universities join fight against family violence

University of Namibia (Unam) vice chancellor Kenneth Matengu says 55% of sexual violence against women in Namibia is perpetrated by intimate partners.

He was yesterday speaking at the launch of a video Unam and the University of Eastern Finland made on early intervention in family violence.

The video is intended to highlight Namibian and Finnish approaches in dealing with family violence from the perspectives of students and social work academics in both countries.

Matengu said physical violence against women included teachers (26%), boyfriends (28%), fathers (19%) and female family members (19%) as perpetrators, while the most perpetrators of sexual violence were boyfriends (55%).

“According to police reports, most victims of domestic violence are women (86%) and most of these crimes are perpetrated by men (93%),” he said.

He said a 2003 study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that over one third of partnered women in Namibia reported having experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner at some time, with 31% reporting physical violence and 17% sexual violence.

According to the vice chancellor, the same study revealed that 19% of respondents had experienced physical violence by a non-partner since the age of 15 and 6% reported sexual violence by a non-partner.

“Results from a WHO international comparative study indicate that approximately 30% of all young women in Namibia reported their early sexual experiences, prior to age 15, as forced,” Matengu said.

The video aims to be an educational tool for students and professionals, demonstrating how multi-professional and interdisciplinary collaboration can be used to approach sensitive and traumatic issues, he said.

Matengu said the actual number of rape and other incidents of sexual and physical violence is much higher than the statistics show, as survivors often do not report incidents due to fear of reprisal from the perpetrator, family pressure, self-blame and societal stigma and discrimination.

“Studies which assess the attitudes of Namibians towards family violence show that some Namibians still believe that family violence is a private matter that needs to be handled within the family.

“However, family violence in Namibia remains a serious social problem and a threat in reaching collective empowerment and sustainable development,” he said.

The vicechancellor said Unam, in close collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland, has joined the global call for action to curb and reduce family violence through early intervention.

This includes educational and training activities.

Speaking at the same event, Kaarina Mönkkönen, a senior lecturer in social work at the University of Eastern Finland, said it is important to empower students from different disciplines with the necessary knowledge and skills to competently deal with sensitive situations.

“In multidisciplinary collaboration, professionals in consultation with the client agree and consider how best to help the family,” she said.

Mönkkönen said the University of Eastern Finland is employing simulation learning to address family violence.

She said after a drama is simulated, students and professionals have a debriefing session.

The main aim of this is to reflect on the choices made and emotions felt during the simulation.

“The role-play in the drama was performed by professional actors and professionals from various fields. We usually choose very sensitive topics that evoke a lot of emotions and which require multidisciplinary collaboration between professionals,” Mönkkönen said.