A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Julien, a 30-year-old survivor of an abusive relationship.  I have deliberately chosen to use her story as my last substantial blog post, for two reasons.  First, because it is the most direct profile that I have been able to put together.  I have interviewed several professionals that work with victims and survivors of domestic violence, and two people who lost loved ones to domestic abuse, but Julien is the only person I have interviewed who actually went through the abuse herself.  And more importantly, because I think it is the most hopeful interview I have done.  I think it’s almost miraculous that the person who has had the most direct experience with domestic violence is also the most hopeful and positive about not only her future, but the future of all those who suffer this kind of violence.

Julien was married in her early twenties.  Unbeknownst to her, her new husband was already married, and had never divorced his first wife.  He started abusing her when she found out that their marriage was not actually legal (polygamy is illegal in Namibia, despite the fact that some tribes practice it traditionally).  He beats her and often threatens to kill her.  He has a gun which he sometimes points at her.  He does all this in front of their two sons, who are only 4 and 5 years old.  In this video, Julien tells us about one instance in which he used the gun to frighten her:

She told me this story before I actually video-taped her, and she started giggling a little bit when she told me that after he brandished the gun at her by the side of the car, she started running, and he couldn’t catch up because he is “a little bit fat,” in her words.  I think that’s why she smiles when telling this part of the story in the video.  I loved that she could still laugh, could still find things funny, even while telling me this horrifying tale. She has an undeniable joie de vivre and enjoyment in life.  Talking with her, I found myself filled with admiration for her bravery, and also anger that someone would try to repress her joyful spirit the way her husband did.

I got to interview her because she took her kids, left her husband and her home, and came to Windhoek to find help.  She is working with Rosa Namises (I profiled Rosa in a previous blog post) who is helping her to find a safe place to live and work through the legal side of things.  Julien has taken out a protection order with the police, and as she put it, knocking on every door that could possibly help her, because ultimately, she does believe that her husband will eventually try to kill her.  She was not at all shy about being photographed and video-taped, and immediately gave me permission to use her name, because:

If there are women out there and they are are scared what their husbands are gonna do to them, if we don’t speak out no one is gonna hear us and know how we are suffering.  So really I’m willing to take a stand and make a change.  I might impact somebody else’s life, some other lady who cannot speak out.  So I’m willing to go that route.

After I was done asking all my questions, I asked her if there was anything else she wanted to say.  She thought for a minute and then said this:

I am so grateful that I got to meet Julien.  She reminds me that even after undergoing trauma, women can change their own lives for the better, and that they can even emerge with their spirits intact.

I wanted to visit one of the Woman and Child Protection Units (WCPUs) because of all the things I had heard about them.  I had heard praise: the Namibian government had seen a problem - rampant physical and sexual abuse and assaults on women and children - and had taken steps to solve it.  One of those steps was the system of 15 WCPUs, run by the Namibian police, scattered around the country, mainly in the largest cities of each region.  They were safe havens where women and children who had been abused, raped, or threatened could come and report the crime and could receive medical exams and basic treatment, counseling, and even temporary shelter.  But I had also heard criticism: the WCPUs were cold and often unhelpful, gave bad advice on legal issues and even discouraged people from getting services they were entitled to, and were not well stocked with necessary medical items such as rape examination kits.

I went to the WCPU in Windhoek last week to see for myself.  It’s housed at the Katutura State Hospital, one of the two public hospitals in the capital.  I was able to take pictures of the outside but not anything inside - the reaction when I asked to take photos was of horror (even though I made it clear that I would only take pictures of rooms, not people).

Katutura State Hospital

Katutura State Hospital

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Women walking by the WCPU

It was a bit daunting first walking in, as the two women at the reception desk were less than welcoming.  I can only hope they are more sympathetic to the people coming in who actually need the WCPU’s services.  They directed me to the person in charge, a police officer, who was much friendlier and offered to show me around.  I accepted, and I believe he showed me every room in the building.

The space was sizeable.  Most of the rooms were offices for social workers and other employees.  While not fancy, the rooms were fairly clean, well-lit, and cheerful.  A lot of the walls had large Disney characters painted on them.  I saw three rooms specifically for the use of women and children needing services.  There was an interview room for children, colorfully-decorated and filled with toys, books, and dolls.  Looking around it made me sad that there was the need for such a room, but I’m glad it’s there for those who need it.  The medical examination room seemed reasonably well-equipped to my inexpert eye, and my guide even showed me a stack of four rape kits on the table.  Finally he showed me the waiting room where women and kids who flee their homes in the night can come and wait for WCPU staff.  It had a table, chairs, and a single mattress with a blanket thrown over it.  It was clear that this is a temporary space.

The WCPUs do not act as long-term shelters, and there is only one such shelter in the country.  It is also in Windhoek.  Most women and children requiring longer-term shelter are put up in hospitals or other makeshift lodging.  This is not the fault of the WCPUs but it does indicate a lack in the system.

Recently I met with Veronica Theron, who works at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.  She is a trained social worker who has worked for 15 years in the fields of gender-based violence and child protection, and is now in charge of the social workers at all the WCPUs.  She admitted that many of the WCPUs were not well-equipped: that they needed vehicles to respond to incidents, for example.  She also said that since there are only 15 units in such a large country, they are only in the larger towns and cities.  Women and children in rural areas may not be able to reach them, and the police in those areas may not be well-trained on issues of gender-based violence and child abuse.  She saw a need for more funding to improve the WCPUs and their reach.  She sees the necessity, too, because she confirmed the statistics that I’d been seeing - that violence against women has been steadily increasing since independence.  Every year there are more rapes and more assaults.  She also made an observation that I had not yet heard from any publications or officials: that cases of rape and domestic physical violence have been increasing in severity and brutality since the Combating of Rape Act and the Combating of Domestic Violence Act were passed in 2000 and 2003, respectively.  Because the penalties for these crimes are now harsher than they were, perpetrators are more likely to attempt to kill the victim in order to get rid of the evidence.  She specifically mentioned child rape cases in this context.

Veronica Theron

Veronica Theron

When I asked if she thought there was a problem with guns and domestic violence, she said something I found surprising but that in retrospect is obvious: that guns are much more often involved in cases of domestic abuse involving wealthy families.  This is because these are the people that can afford to buy a gun for protection.  The weapon of choice for a poorer abuser would more likely be a knife, although he may threaten her, saying he will buy or borrow a gun.  She said that women in wealthier families, too, are more likely to be isolated from supportive family and friends (specifically, she mentioned the wives of diplomats, far from their homes), so the psychological abuse can be far worse.  This often includes death threats.

Previously, I had interviewed Detective Chief Inspector Rosalia Shatilweh, the National Coordinator for the WCPUs for the Namibian Police.  I asked her what she thought the scope of the problem is here in Namibia, and here is her answer:

Erastus Nekuta agreed to be interviewed about his niece, Selma Shaimemanya, who was shot and killed by her abusive husband, Lazarus Shaduka, on July 13, 2008.  Erastus described Selma as “…always available to help where help was needed.”  He also said that she was hard-working and forward-looking, and that she was “trying to be somebody in life.”  She was well-educated: she attended university at the Polytechnic in Windhoek and then went to the UK to get her master’s degree.  When she came back to Namibia, she began working for the Ministry of Defense.  Soon after her return she married Shaduka.

Shaduka started abusing her immediately after the marriage and the situation deteriorated quickly.  He often threatened to kill her. Despite intervention by various family members, the abuse did not stop.  At one point, after he had threatened her with his gun, she went to the police to get a protection order.  However, she was pressured to withdraw her application by Shaduka’s family, and so she did not go through with the order.  The police confiscated his gun when she took out the order but he was able to retrieve it immediately after the case was withdrawn.  Soon after that, just one year after the wedding, he killed her with it, shooting her in the presence of their 8-month-old daughter.  Selma was just 33.  In this video Erastus describes her murder and what happened immediately afterward.

Shaduka is still waiting for trial.

Part of what Pauline is working on here in her capacity as the lead activist on issues of gun violence in Namibian civil society is altering the legal landscape to make guns less accessible.  There is one major law that regards gun ownership, the Arms and Ammunition Act of 1996.  This law states that a person must be 18 to own a firearm, must apply for a license for each weapon and register it with the police, and must have a “strong-room” or safe in which to store it.  The law also allows for each citizen to own up to four guns.*

The Act provides for “declarations of unfitness” by police on grounds that the applicant is homicidal or suicidal, mentally unstable, “inclined to violence,” addicted to drugs or alcohol, or handles weapons “in a reckless manner.”  A person can be found unfit if he commits certain crimes without a firearm, such as murder, rape, assault, or robbery, but a court may find otherwise.  If a person is found to be unfit, his application for a firearms license can be declined, or a weapon in his possession can be taken away.

In 2003, Namibia enacted the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, which defines domestic violence (before 2003 not recognized as a separate crime in Namibia), provides for protection orders to be issued to victims, and outlines police responsibilities in responding to such crimes.  The law amends the Arms and Ammunition Act by including domestic violence as a crime that can render an offender unfit to own weapons.  In addition, the CDV Act allows for police seizure of weapons at the scene under section 23:

“Any police officer who reasonably suspects that a domestic violence offence has been committed may -(a)  question any person present at the scene of the offence to determine whether there are weapons at the scene; and (b) on observing or learning that a weapon is present at the scene, search any person, premises, vehicle or other place and seize any weapon that the officer reasonably believes would expose the complainant to a risk of serious bodily injury.”  [italics mine]

Notice that “may.”  This is not a requirement, but an option, for police officers.

Pauline’s goal is to make the link between the two laws stronger; for example, to have the Arms and Ammunition Act require that weapons be taken not only from convicted abusers, but those with a protection order against them, and to require that police consult with family members before granting licenses.  She is also working to raise the legal age of gun ownership to 21, to institute a competency test for gun ownership, and to ban the carrying of weapons in public places by civilians.  She is hoping that progress will be made this year.  Some Namibian Parliamentarians have publically expressed support for amending the law to include these changes, among others.  Meanwhile, lobbyists for gun dealers and hunting groups are taking every chance they can get to bend parliamentarians’ ears.

*A note on the four-gun allowance: This policy has been defended as vital to a country of farmers and hunters. In his report for the Institute for Public Policy Research in Windhoek, “In Self-Defense: Firearms Usage in Namibia,” researcher Martin Boer quotes security consultant Colonel Radmore as saying, “Namibia is a gun country.  A farmer will have at least two rifles or a shotgun and a rifle.  He needs them to hunt, he needs them to feed his people.”  But as Boer’s report reveals, the vast majority of applications for firearms licenses show the stated reason for the application as self-defense.  Moreover, most applicants are located in urban centers and are requesting licenses for pistols or revolvers, not the rifles or shotguns that would normally be used for hunting.[1]

The Namibian Police Force has several “units” or divisions.  The one that specifically works with cases of domestic violence or abuse is the Women and Child Protection Unit (WCPU).  There are WCPU offices in various cities and towns all over the country, and it is here that people can report abuse, receive counseling or medical examinations, and even receive temporary shelter if needed.  There is some debate about how welcoming or well-equipped some of these WCPUs are, and I hope to visit one soon to get a better picture of what happens there.

In the meantime, I spoke with a police detective who worked in a WCPU for 11 years (she asked me not to use her name in this blog).   When I asked her about domestic violence cases involving guns, she told me the story of a woman whose abuser used to clean his gun in front of her, or sleep with his gun under his pillow, when he wanted to intimidate her.

I asked her how it was for her personally, to do this work for so long.  She immediately responded that it was “emotionally draining” and that it had had a “huge impact” on her and her marriage.  In the year or so since she left that position and started doing general detective duties, she said, her husband has noticed big changes in her; specifically, he said that she has been much more relaxed since leaving the WCPU.  This despite the fact that she voluntarily participated in group therapy with the other staff of the WCPU while she was there.

This last part of the conversation was of particular interest to me as I have been thinking about the impact of the work I am doing here on my own mental and emotional well-being.  There is no doubt that reading page after page of horrific stories of rape, assault, and murder is disturbing, and hearing the stories directly even more so.  However, it does sometimes feel a little overly indulgent, even selfish, to worry about myself when I am not suffering directly.  The women I am reading about and meeting are the ones who are really going through difficult times.  Recently though, I have been receiving some reminders that I should take care of myself, and not just from this police detective.  Yesterday I met a woman who is doing her Ph.D. research on domestic violence here, and she warned me that I must make sure I have support, and that I should take time to relax and enjoy life.  “Believe me,” she said, “I know.”  Both of these conversations serve as a reminder that violence is far-reaching, and affects not only the victims, but also their caretakers and advocates.

Don’t worry, friends and family, I am taking care of myself!  I have the weekend to take a time out.  I just wish it was possible for the victims of these crimes to have the same opportunity.

At the launch event for the Disarming Domestic Violence campaign, I met an amazing woman.  Her name is Rosa Namises, and she is the founder and director of Women’s Solidarity Namibia (WSN), an NGO that works with women in abusive relationships.  It was in this capacity that she was a panelist at the launch event.  Last week she came in to the BWS office to talk with us about partnering on some aspects of the campaign, and I got to find out more about her.

Auntie Rosa

Rosa Namises

Although WSN has been around since the late 1990s, Rosa has been doing this work for over 30 years.  She was even a member of Parliament for a few years, and gender-based violence was the main cause that she worked on while in office.  Because of her dedication, she is well-known in Namibia, and every day she gets at least one call on her cell phone from a desperate woman looking for help.  She handles many of these calls personally, going to the women’s homes to talk to them, even talking with the abusive husband or boyfriend if asked to intervene.  I think she is one of the bravest, kindest women I have ever met.  Many of the women she helps, or their children, call her “Auntie” Rosa.

Rosa told us a sad story, the story of a woman who has been abused for many years.  Recently, her husband was angry at her and he started “asking about his gun,” presumably to let her know he was thinking of using it.  Rosa intervened and demanded that the husband give her the keys to the safe where the gun was being stored, and thankfully he handed them over (see what I mean about her bravery?).  This woman has a good job and has the means to leave her husband, but she hasn’t managed to do it yet.  We hope she can find the strength soon.

But Rosa also told us some inspiring success stories.  A woman who was abused by her husband for 27 years did manage to leave him, and is now running her own construction company in Windhoek.  Rosa had a big smile on her face as she told this story.  But she also said that in her 30 years working with troubled families, only about 25 women have actually gotten out of their distressing situations.

Finally, she told us one more inspiring tale.  She had invited the women from the support group that she runs to come to the campaign launch event.  One of them did come.  The next week, at the end of the support group session, this woman asked to speak.  She then proceeded to teach the other group members about the link between guns and domestic violence, saying that she was going to bring the message to her home town of Khorixas and that the other women there should do the same.  It was wonderful to hear that the launch inspired someone to teach others, and that the message is spreading.

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Every year in June, IANSA sponsors a Global Week of Action that highlights the negative consequences of gun violence around the world.  This year, one part of the Global Week of Action is Disarming Domestic Violence, a campaign to raise awareness about the link between guns and domestic abuse (I talked about this link in an earlier blog post).  Organizations in 28 countries are participating in spreading this message, and I am honored to be part of Namibia’s campaign.  You can read about how Advocacy Project Fellows are contributing to the campaign worldwide here.

The other week, the NANGOF Trust (the umbrella organization that represents Namibian NGOs, including the one I work for, Breaking the Wall of Silence) held a campaign launch event.  It was a panel discussion at a big hotel in downtown Windhoek, and we had four distinguished speakers, including two Members of Parliament and two representatives of civil society organizations.  All the speakers discussed the need for women to feel safe in their own homes.   Rosa Namises of the NGO Women’s Solidarity Namibia gave a particularly moving speech about women’s rights in Namibia and their continuing vulnerability to violence.

Pauline and the parliamentarians talked about how the firearms law here could be amended to improve safety – for example, by instituting a competency test that all gun owners would be required to take and renew.  One important part of any legal changes would be harmonizing the firearms legislation with the domestic violence legislation that they have here.  Harmonization simply means that the gun law prohibits ownership by domestic violence offenders, and the domestic violence law requires the removal of guns.  So far, harmonization has only been accomplished in four countries: Canada, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, and our next-door neighbor, South Africa.  We’d like it to happen here in Namibia too.  It was great to see the two parliamentarians supporting these potential changes to the law.  Pauline hopes that debates in the relevant government ministries to institute the amendments could begin later this year.  It could definitely be an uphill battle though, as the gun dealer lobby and some in the hunting and farming communities are wary of any changes to firearm legislation.

Member of Parliament McHenry Venaani officially launches the campaign while MP Kaveri Kavari and Pauline Dempers listen.

Member of Parliament McHenry Venaani officially launches the campaign while MP Kaveri Kavari and Pauline Dempers listen.

Connected to the launch, Pauline and I were invited that same day to be interviewed on the national TV network, NBC TV.  We got up bright and early to be on Good Morning Namibia, the daily show that starts at 6 AM.  The anchor interviewed us for about 10 minutes live, and we talked about the problem, the legal side, and announced the launch event later that day.  It was a great opportunity to get the word out, and my first appearance on live TV!

We’ve also been working on getting the message out to the Windhoek community more generally through the Gun-Free Namibia campaign.  We visited two schools last week and talked to their staff to encourage their schools to become Gun-Free Zones.  Goreangab School in Katutura took on the challenge, so we’ll be returning soon to talk to the students and have an official ceremony.

It feels like the NANGOF Trust has a lot of momentum going with the campaign to end gun violence here in Namibia, and it’s very exciting for me to be here for it.  More updates soon.

A news story in the most popular national newspaper here, The Namibian, really hit home for me this week.  A woman and her mother were both shot and killed by the woman’s boyfriend in a small town in the northeast of the country.  The article indicates that there had been a long history of domestic abuse in the relationship.  It’s the kind of sad story that is plastered all over the news in the US more often than any of us would like.  It also illustrates in the most horrifying way the link between guns and domestic violence that IANSA is working to raise awareness about this year with their Disarming Domestic Violence campaign, and the reason I’m here.

Recently, Pauline and I were talking about the campaign with a man we had just met.  He argued that the problem is not guns, but domestic violence itself, and he said that the most effective way to deal with the problem would be teaching people about effective conflict resolution.  I agree with him that it is not only guns that are the problem, and that the roots of the problem lie deeper than the weapon that is used in a domestic violence situation.  However, as IANSA has noted, guns make domestic violence more deadly.  A gun increases the risk of death by 12 times, compared with other means of violence.  In Namibia, the majority of victims of gun crimes (assault, murder, and muggings) between 2003 and 2006 were women.  It is clear to me that something needs to be done to keep women safe, and that removing guns from the hands of abusers and other criminals would be an effective first step.

Pauline Dempers and Felix Muchila on his NBC Radio show, "The Ninth Hour"

Pauline Dempers and Felix Muchila on his NBC Radio show, "The Ninth Hour"

I had just met my new boss, Pauline Dempers, the national coordinator of Namibian NGO Breaking the Wall of Silence, at one of the central taxi stands (or ranks, as they’re called here) in Windhoek.  It was my first day in Namibia, and I had come directly from the airport – Pauline was picking me up downtown to take me to Talita’s house, where I would be staying for the next three months.  We sat and talked for a moment as we waited for Talita to drop off the keys: mostly small talk and getting-to-know-you chat.  Then she surprised me:

“I’d like you to come with me to the national radio station tomorrow.  We’re being interviewed on the IANSA campaign.”

And so the next day at 9 AM I found myself walking up to the NBC (here, it stands for Namibian Broadcasting Corporation) Radio building to begin the first task of my internship.  Inside, I met Pauline and Felix Muchila, host of English-language radio show “The Ninth Hour.”  NBC has radio shows in English, German, and Afrikaans, as well as several different indigenous languages, and it is broadcast throughout the entire country.  Felix informed us that we would be talking for about 45 minutes and would take calls from listeners as well.  This is where I started to get nervous: 45 minutes?  On my first day?  I hoped I had all the answers to the questions that would be asked of me.

I shouldn’t have been too worried.  Pauline took the lead, discussing the national Gun Free Namibia campaign that her organization has spearheaded as well as the link between guns and domestic violence that is the focus of the Disarming Domestic Campaign that we are launching here in Windhoek as a partner in IANSA’s Global Week of Action against Gun Violence.  Felix asked me how gun violence compared between the US and Namibia, and also what was being done to combat gun violence in the States.  I was not able to compare the level of violence in the two countries, especially as I did not have access yet to Namibian statistics.  But I did highlight that there are several organizations working on this issue in the US, and that IANSA is partnering with many of them.  We had one caller at the end of the show who commented on the difficulty of reducing gun violence, and the importance of ensuring that guns are stored safely.

Perhaps the best part of the whole experience was that since then, I have encountered two people that heard Pauline and me on the radio.  One of them is a freelance reporter, and we had an interesting discussion about gun violence in Windhoek.  It’s exciting to know that the campaign is already visible and sparking discussion.