A dangerous place to love
Namibians should be forgiven for thinking that our national sport is something as harmless as soccer.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
Soccer se voet! Namibians excel at killing their women and other vulnerable members of society!
Our prowess at intimate partner killings is astounding, with all sorts of methods being used to snuff out life.
Knives, pangas, broken bottles, strangulation and using humans as firing ranges is par for the course. And amid all these unfolding calamities there is silence, as these killings are added as notches, placing our psyche on display for the world to see.
Our children are raised to believe it is normal for a man to 'own' a woman, even her very life. This is a shocking state of affairs, but outrage, prayer days and media reports are getting us nowhere.
Our prisons house a growing population of those who either in the heat of passion, or in coldblooded and calculated way, became the purveyors of an unholy demonic wrath to end the life of someone's loved one - a daughter, a sister, a mother.
And as the results of our national sport are plastered in crime reports, front page leads and social media updates, we are at threat of developing thick skins – of personalising the killer instead of the victim.
What is the psychology of these killings? Where does a man get off believing he owns a woman, simply because he has paid for her KFC, hair extensions or sent her an eWallet? Scientists use big words to describe even bigger concepts that put our puny brains to shame, but sometimes their constant picking at issues like violence can reveal some startling truths.
They plod and probe, even aiming to link violence to the stimulation of certain areas of the brain.
Perhaps it is time we hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak, and find out exactly what motivated the killers serving their sentences in our correctional facilities. Namibia is paying heavily for the popular stereotype that women experience emotions more than men do.
We need to know why we are living in a dangerous place to love!
Nothing could be further from the truth!
Soccer se voet! Namibians excel at killing their women and other vulnerable members of society!
Our prowess at intimate partner killings is astounding, with all sorts of methods being used to snuff out life.
Knives, pangas, broken bottles, strangulation and using humans as firing ranges is par for the course. And amid all these unfolding calamities there is silence, as these killings are added as notches, placing our psyche on display for the world to see.
Our children are raised to believe it is normal for a man to 'own' a woman, even her very life. This is a shocking state of affairs, but outrage, prayer days and media reports are getting us nowhere.
Our prisons house a growing population of those who either in the heat of passion, or in coldblooded and calculated way, became the purveyors of an unholy demonic wrath to end the life of someone's loved one - a daughter, a sister, a mother.
And as the results of our national sport are plastered in crime reports, front page leads and social media updates, we are at threat of developing thick skins – of personalising the killer instead of the victim.
What is the psychology of these killings? Where does a man get off believing he owns a woman, simply because he has paid for her KFC, hair extensions or sent her an eWallet? Scientists use big words to describe even bigger concepts that put our puny brains to shame, but sometimes their constant picking at issues like violence can reveal some startling truths.
They plod and probe, even aiming to link violence to the stimulation of certain areas of the brain.
Perhaps it is time we hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak, and find out exactly what motivated the killers serving their sentences in our correctional facilities. Namibia is paying heavily for the popular stereotype that women experience emotions more than men do.
We need to know why we are living in a dangerous place to love!
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Namibian Sun
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