Searching for answers in the wrong places

The gender ministry says it has set aside N$600 000 to work with the media on reporting gender-based violence. This is commendable in a country gripped by desperation, where the government and stakeholders continue to search for solutions to a crisis they admit they do not fully understand. In 2013, then-President Hifikepunye Pohamba called for a national day of prayer against gender-based violence, appealing to the nation’s conscience and faith. Laws were strengthened, task forces were formed, awareness campaigns multiplied, and the annual 16 Days of Activism became a fixture on the national calendar. Shelters were opened, slogans were coined, and strategies were rewritten. Yet the violence persists, often with greater brutality and frequency. Well-intentioned interventions treated symptoms rather than causes. Prayer did not alter power dynamics inside homes. Campaign posters left poverty, alcohol abuse, unresolved trauma, or the quiet normalisation of control and entitlement intact. Violence is not only a legal or moral failure; it is a social one. Until Namibia confronts how boys are raised, how conflict is resolved, how inequality is lived daily, and how silence protects perpetrators, no budget line or campaign theme will be enough.