Martin Endjala
National Council lawmakers today approved the Combating of Domestic Violence Amendment Bill with a call to change in attitude by advocates of domestic violence.
The bill passed in the chamber saw several MPs expressing the need of moving away from just saying beautiful words and start taking actions.
Paulus Mbangu, the Rundu Constituency councillor emphasised that every Namibian must become a campaigner against domestic violence emphasising that domestic violence is getting out of hands, causing emotional harm to victims.
The MP emphasised that lawmakers need to start conversations about domestic violence in their regions and constituencies during stakeholders engagement.
These discussions should centre around stereotypes that promote gender inequalities as well as stigmatization of victims.
Mbangu called on churches and other stakeholders to start treating everyone equal, arguing that no
problem is smaller or bigger than the next person.
“Whatever we do, lets remind ourselves about the preamble of the Namibian Constitution that all
Namibians are equal and born with inherent dignity.’’
MP John Likando explained that education is key in attaining domestic violence free society.
He argued that as law makers, amendments should be accompanied by policies that can be understood by the masses.
He further said that the bills at time are written in technical language that is only understood by lawyers and judges but not the society.
Hence, the MP called on more educational awareness on the laws passed for society to understand them and to avoid any ambiguity about them.
The National Council vice-chairperson Victoria Kauma advised men to start speaking out and not to suffer in silence.
Kauma urged all ministries to add to their budgets responsive programmes that would create awareness about domestic violence.
She further Calls on the media to disseminate information on domestic violence awareness in all Languages spoken in the country.
