Most Namibians condemn wife beating

While a majority of Namibians say nothing justifies a man beating a woman, men and rural communities are more prone to hold the belief that a beating is sometimes justified.

The latest Afrobarometer results released by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that 84% of Namibians believe it is never justified for a man to beat his wife.

Most Namibians also believe that the government is waging a robust and effective war against gender-based violence, according to the survey.

“Despite daily reports of gender-based violence in Namibia, 71% of Namibians believe that the government is handling the fight against gender-based violence well,” the IPPR report states.

While a large majority condemned beatings of women by men, 12% of men and 12% of rural residents interviewed for the survey felt that beating a woman is “sometimes justified.”

The majority of men, 83%, said it is never justified, and 83% of residents in rural areas interviewed for the survey said it is never justified.

Nine percent of women interviewed on the topic for the Afrobarometer survey said wife beating is sometimes justified, and 5% told interviewers it is always justified.

The majority of women, however, 84%, said it is never justified.

The gender-based violence section of the Afrobarometer also found that most Namibians (71%) pinpoint alcohol abuse as the predominant factor that contributes to gender-based violence in Namibia.

The next highest contributor to gender-based violence is unemployment, which 67% of respondents blamed for household violence.

Sixty percent of Namibians blamed poverty as a reason for gender-based violence, and 49% said “unequal power relationships” could lead to violence.

Only 23% of respondents cited cultural or traditional values as a cause for domestic or gender-based violence.

Another key finding of the gender based violence section of the report is that “despite daily reports of gender-based violence in Namibia, most Namibians (71%) believe that the government is handling the fight against GBV well.”



Gender equality

Almost 60% of Namibians interviewed for the Afrobarometer said that the increased number of women in parliament made the institution more effective.

A mere 12% of respondents said women made parliament less effective and 24% said it made no difference.

The survey also revealed that seven in ten Namibians hold the view that all political parties should be mandated to adopt a gender quota in the National Assembly to ensure more equal participation of men and women in both the National Assembly and Regional Council elections.

Moreover, a majority of respondents (70%) said the gender quota system should be extended to the regional councils.

The survey also found that most Namibians (68%) believe that women should have the same chance as men of being elected to political office. The Afrobarometer team in Namibia, led by the IPPR and Survey Warehouse, interviewed 1 200 adult Namibians in November 2017.

The Afrobarometer is a pan-African research network that conducts public attitude surveys on a number of issues.





JANA-MARI SMITH