EDITORIAL: A system that forgave a monster
Namibia must confront a haunting truth: our justice system has become too lenient - too forgiving - towards those who commit unspeakable acts against women and children.
In 2008, a man was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. He was fined N$3 000 or given the option of serving three years in prison. He chose the fine. That was the price our justice system placed on the destruction of a child’s life.
Some 23 years later, the same man allegedly turned his violence onto his own daughter - a child born from that very 2008 crime. This is not just a tragedy. It is a moral indictment of a system that confused accountability with mercy.
How could the court have thought that a fine, smaller than what many pay for traffic offences, was justice for such an offence? What message did that send to the perpetrator, to survivors, to society?
A justice system that fails to punish is one that guarantees repetition. And repetition is exactly what happened. The same man, once again, stands accused - this time of preying on the life he created through violence.
We must stop pretending that violence against women and children is an individual problem. It is a national crisis enabled by lenient laws, poor sentencing, and social silence.
Where was the follow-up supervision after the first conviction? Where was the rehabilitation, the community warning, the permanent record that should have prevented him from being around vulnerable people again?
Too often, the law bends backwards to protect offenders while survivors are left to rebuild in shame and poverty.
A man who violates a child should never have the option of buying his freedom. Justice cannot be measured in dollars.
In 2008, a man was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl. He was fined N$3 000 or given the option of serving three years in prison. He chose the fine. That was the price our justice system placed on the destruction of a child’s life.
Some 23 years later, the same man allegedly turned his violence onto his own daughter - a child born from that very 2008 crime. This is not just a tragedy. It is a moral indictment of a system that confused accountability with mercy.
How could the court have thought that a fine, smaller than what many pay for traffic offences, was justice for such an offence? What message did that send to the perpetrator, to survivors, to society?
A justice system that fails to punish is one that guarantees repetition. And repetition is exactly what happened. The same man, once again, stands accused - this time of preying on the life he created through violence.
We must stop pretending that violence against women and children is an individual problem. It is a national crisis enabled by lenient laws, poor sentencing, and social silence.
Where was the follow-up supervision after the first conviction? Where was the rehabilitation, the community warning, the permanent record that should have prevented him from being around vulnerable people again?
Too often, the law bends backwards to protect offenders while survivors are left to rebuild in shame and poverty.
A man who violates a child should never have the option of buying his freedom. Justice cannot be measured in dollars.
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Namibian Sun
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