Marital rape doesn’t exist – Dienda
PDM politician says she can’t be lectured by unmarried youth
Generational differences in views were on full display this week when young female MPs took on the older PDM deputy chief whip, who asserted that consent becomes automatic from your wedding day.
Debate is raging in the National Assembly about increased complaints about alleged rape incidents between spouses – with some questioning where conjugal rights between couples begin and where they end.
Veteran member of parliament (MP) Elma Dienda, of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), said there is no such a thing such as rape within a marriage, adding that spouses automatically consent to sex once they get married. Dienda is her party’s deputy chief whip in the National Assembly.
“I am one of the persons who don’t support this thing of husbands and wives raping each other. Please people, just read your Bible – those of us who said ‘I do’, you are being told in sickness and in what. “We are being told you cannot deny your partner his rights. I am not talking about boyfriends and girlfriends,” she said.
Patience Masua, the country’s youngest MP and a representative of the ruling party Swapo, interjected by saying it is very disheartening that an elected MP could make such utterances which ultimately make a mockery of rape victims.
“Family dynamics are so diverse [from] family to family that you cannot rule out the possibility that a spouse rapes a spouse – it happens. You are using the Parliament to sanction rape and that is making a mockery of rape victims; people who have been raped by their husbands and wives. That is incorrect and we cannot laugh about it,” she said as the house thundered with laughter.
Consent is non-negotiable
Inna Hengari, another youthful MP representing PDM, differed with her party comrade Dienda and agreed with Masua that in any relationship - whether bound by a marriage licence or not - consent remains non-negotiable.
“I do believe in consent. So, for as long as one of the partners does not consent to sex, it is rape and that is how it is and that is how it should be, especially if we are to protect women in this country,” she said.
To this, Dienda responded that she cannot be lectured by unmarried youth, seemingly referring to the two young MPs, adding that when a person is married, “your husband’s body is your body and your body is your husband’s”.
Meanwhile, deputy information minister Emma Teofelus, herself a young MP at the age of 26, said Dienda’s remarks show the disconnect and differences in views between the different generations.
She also asked Dienda whether it would be acceptable for a husband to beat his wife since “your body is his body”, to which Dienda replied she was not talking about gender-based-violence.
Former attorney-general Albert Kawana, now the minister of home affairs, questioned chances of a successful conviction in matters where someone claims to have been raped by their spouses, citing the absence of bodily fluids as evidence.
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Veteran member of parliament (MP) Elma Dienda, of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), said there is no such a thing such as rape within a marriage, adding that spouses automatically consent to sex once they get married. Dienda is her party’s deputy chief whip in the National Assembly.
“I am one of the persons who don’t support this thing of husbands and wives raping each other. Please people, just read your Bible – those of us who said ‘I do’, you are being told in sickness and in what. “We are being told you cannot deny your partner his rights. I am not talking about boyfriends and girlfriends,” she said.
Patience Masua, the country’s youngest MP and a representative of the ruling party Swapo, interjected by saying it is very disheartening that an elected MP could make such utterances which ultimately make a mockery of rape victims.
“Family dynamics are so diverse [from] family to family that you cannot rule out the possibility that a spouse rapes a spouse – it happens. You are using the Parliament to sanction rape and that is making a mockery of rape victims; people who have been raped by their husbands and wives. That is incorrect and we cannot laugh about it,” she said as the house thundered with laughter.
Consent is non-negotiable
Inna Hengari, another youthful MP representing PDM, differed with her party comrade Dienda and agreed with Masua that in any relationship - whether bound by a marriage licence or not - consent remains non-negotiable.
“I do believe in consent. So, for as long as one of the partners does not consent to sex, it is rape and that is how it is and that is how it should be, especially if we are to protect women in this country,” she said.
To this, Dienda responded that she cannot be lectured by unmarried youth, seemingly referring to the two young MPs, adding that when a person is married, “your husband’s body is your body and your body is your husband’s”.
Meanwhile, deputy information minister Emma Teofelus, herself a young MP at the age of 26, said Dienda’s remarks show the disconnect and differences in views between the different generations.
She also asked Dienda whether it would be acceptable for a husband to beat his wife since “your body is his body”, to which Dienda replied she was not talking about gender-based-violence.
Former attorney-general Albert Kawana, now the minister of home affairs, questioned chances of a successful conviction in matters where someone claims to have been raped by their spouses, citing the absence of bodily fluids as evidence.
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