Women perpetuate abuse to self Rinelda Mouton Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 08:00 News Women continue to withdraw cases they have reported against their abusive partners despite being at the receiving end, making violence against women a great human rights challenge in Namibia. One of the victims, Lydia Haingura, who has been assaulted by her husband, Raphael Haingura, since they got married in 2008, has withdrawn a protection order she instituted against him. Haingura filed for divorce, but the couple is still living under the same roof and she is still being abused. “I am still staying in the same house with him, because I have nowhere else to go. I am just waiting for the divorce to be finalised so that we can divide the property,” Lydia said. Lydia said when she withdrew the case, she and her husband made up and at that time he promised to never hit her again. “That never happened. A few hours later he just did it again,” Lydia said. According to the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), women often don’t provide the police with reasons as to why they are withdrawing the case. However, some claimed to withdraw their cases because of a family relationship with the perpetrator. Others requested withdrawals, but the reasons they provided were vague, such as “forgiveness” of the perpetrator, or a desire to “move on with life”. Human Rights Activist Professor, Nico Horn, is against victims who withdraw cases. He said that the state needs tough and proactive prosecutors who are not swayed to withdraw cases easily. Horn advised women to get out of an abusive relationship immediately, report the case and not to withdraw it. “Move out and stay away from that person. Surround yourself with friends or relatives who you trust to help you during this difficult time,” Horn said. According to the Commanding Officer of the Windhoek Women and Child Protection Unit, Inspector Rosalia Shatilweh a number of men think that once they are married to or in a relationship with women, they own them and therefor can do anything to them. “There are many cases where women lay charges against their male partners, but many of them pity them and withdraw the charges,” Shatilweh said. A survey on domestic violence cases reported to the Namibian Police showed that more than one-fifth of all violent crime in Namibia occurs within the context of domestic relationships.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 11:00:01 +0000