D: Towards human rights for all women in Namibia

Namibia recently became the fourth country on the continent to ratify the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. What meanings does this document, as well as the other international instruments signed by our government have for girls and women in the diverse communities of Namibia?

During 2004, Sister Namibia held three-day workshops on women's human rights in Lüderitz, Karasburg, Nyangana, Katima Mulilo, Okakarara and Tsumkwe, using the AU Protocol as a main tool. In all these locations, workshop participants were amazed to learn about the broad range of human rights they are entitled to as full citizens of this county and this continent, and reported grave violations of these rights in many areas of their lives.

Let's take a closer look at the situation of women in Tsumkwe in eastern Namibia, home of many San people, who are the impoverished and marginalised indigenous people of our country. Forty women attended the workshop, young and old. Nineteen of them had infants or small children with them, and five more were pregnant. All the women said that it was the first time they ever attended such a workshop, and expressed the belief that rights were something only accorded to people living in towns.

Following a role play by the facilitators on the different forms of domestic violence, the participants said that such incidences were an everyday occurrence in their lives, but that they had not realised that this was a violation of their rights. However, to apply for a protection order under the Domestic Violence Act of 2003, they would have to find transport to travel 275 kilometres to the nearest magistrate's court at Grootfontein. And as magistrates have not yet received training on the Act, it could happen that women applying for a protection order are simply sent home again.

The information on the new Maintenance Act was also new to the women in Tsumkwe, and they stated that because there are no social workers in Tsumkwe there was no-one to assist them with accessing their social rights. Lack of access to education was also discussed as a major violation of the rights of San girls, many of whom marry and start having children soon after beginning their menstruation. “We don't know about reproductive and sexual rights,” said one of the participants. “We as women don't talk about this to our husbands because it is very sensitive. Normally we give birth to babies every year. In our culture our little girls are getting into early marriages. Soon after a girl child is born, an old man visits the mother and says that this little girl will be his future wife. He will start supporting her until she reaches her first menstruation and then marry her.” Information and training on the Married Person's Equality Act of 1996 has thus not yet reached the girls and women of Tsumkwe.

Poverty was the other main reason given for the lack of access to education. Children living on farms and in villages in the surrounding areas need transport to and from the secondary school in Tsumkwe, and parents are not aware that school fees and uniforms can be waived. Schools and school hostels are also places of discrimination and abuse and are thus experienced as not safe places for the girls. Participants requested in particular more information on their reproductive health and rights. “We really do not know how to protect ourselves from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids, and also unwanted pregnancies.”

Sister Namibia will intensify our work in this area in 2005, and plan how to reach out to more San women and girls, as well as women in other communities across the country. Our aim is to develop a sense of entitlement among women of all their rights currently existing only on paper, and develop lobbying and advocacy skills among girls and women so that they can begin to stand up for their rights.

* Liz Frank is the director of Sister Namibia

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