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Executive Director of Women’s Action for Development (WAD) Veronica de Klerk has condemned gender-based violence and called on women to refrain from withdrawing cases against perpetrators of violence against them.
“I appeal to all women, instead, to strive towards freeing themselves from the scourge of gender-based violence, by opening cases against perpetrators of violence against them; and to seek protection orders against perpetrators and not to withdraw cases, in order to bring them to book,” De Klerk said.
De Klerk made the statement at a graduation ceremony of 120 unemployed students who attended a multi-disciplinary training course in the Okongo district of the Ohangwena Region on Thursday.
According to De Klerk, the increase in gender-based violence is a grave concern to her organisation, as it hampers women’s participation in training programmes and income-generating ventures.
“No man has the right to commit any form of violence against any woman.
“No act of violence against women can, therefore, be shoved aside and classified as merely ‘a domestic affair’ for which a charge cannot be laid against a perpetrator,” De Klerk said.
“Although Namibia prides itself as a free nation, women and their daughters still find themselves in the slave camp of their husbands, boyfriends and male gangs who are at liberty to oppress, violate, beat up, rape and kill them.
“Complete freedom has, therefore, not yet dawned for women and girls in Namibia,” she said.
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She said despite numerous calls that women be more confident, study to become engineers, doctors and scientists and become economically independent and self-sustaining, “they cannot concentrate on their studies because they are traumatised by violence”.
“How can they concentrate on their studies whilst psychological abuse and oppression hang over their heads? Something concrete should be done to stop this.”
Turning to the graduates, De Klerk encouraged them to market themselves and gain experience when they succeed in getting a foothold in the employment market.
“Perform brilliantly during this time, to make it difficult for them to let you go!” she said.
Publisher: AllAfrica.com
Year of Publication: 2010
📝Read the emotional article by @nokwe_mnomiya, with a personal plea: 🇿🇦Breaking the cycle of violence!https://t.co/6kPcu2Whwm pic.twitter.com/d60tsBqJwx
— Gender Links (@GenderLinks) December 17, 2024
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