EDITORIAL: Breaking the cycle of abuse
Valentine’s Day is looming. Candlelit dinners, roses, chocolates and other tokens of love will be on full display next week.
However, the sad reality is that Namibia continues to face an epidemic of rape and other gender-based violence (GBV) crimes.
Yesterday, the judiciary said the highest number of trials in the High Court last year were related to GBV.
Every week, police crime reports make for horrific reading, as incidents of rape, assault and murder rear their ugly heads. It is safe to say that women and children are under attack in the Land of the Brave and the prognosis gets worse and worse every single week.
Generational abuse also remains a major problem in Namibia. This is defined as a repeating pattern in a family that has passed down dysfunctional domestic abuse through generations. A child growing up with domestic abuse doesn’t understand that this is abnormal.
The correlation between a child being in an abusive upbringing and then becoming the abuser or victim as an adult is high. The developmental progression of a child abused or experiencing domestic abuse often causes antisocial behaviour and violent episodes. When a daughter hears her father verbally abuse her mother, she will believe that this is normal in any relationship. Clearly, a holistic approach is needed to break this cycle - and this should go far beyond simple policing.
However, the sad reality is that Namibia continues to face an epidemic of rape and other gender-based violence (GBV) crimes.
Yesterday, the judiciary said the highest number of trials in the High Court last year were related to GBV.
Every week, police crime reports make for horrific reading, as incidents of rape, assault and murder rear their ugly heads. It is safe to say that women and children are under attack in the Land of the Brave and the prognosis gets worse and worse every single week.
Generational abuse also remains a major problem in Namibia. This is defined as a repeating pattern in a family that has passed down dysfunctional domestic abuse through generations. A child growing up with domestic abuse doesn’t understand that this is abnormal.
The correlation between a child being in an abusive upbringing and then becoming the abuser or victim as an adult is high. The developmental progression of a child abused or experiencing domestic abuse often causes antisocial behaviour and violent episodes. When a daughter hears her father verbally abuse her mother, she will believe that this is normal in any relationship. Clearly, a holistic approach is needed to break this cycle - and this should go far beyond simple policing.
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Namibian Sun
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