Namibia holds training program on curbing gender-based violence

Namibian legal practitioners, police investigators and social workers are undergoing a weeklong training program on how to deal with cases involving victims of gender-based violence and violence against women and girls.

The aim, said prosecutor general Martha Imalwa, is to address the social problem of prevalent gender-based violence crimes that continue to haunt the country.

The Namibian Police recorded 2,151 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) between January 2015 to November 2016 alone.

According to Namibian Police Deputy Inspector General for administration, major general Anna-Marrie Nainda, there is hardly a day that goes by in Namibia without cases of violence being reported.

“Therefore, the training will help prosecutors ensure that offenders face full wrath of the law,” she said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, while laws are in place to curb violence, prosecutor general Imalwa said that it requires more than laws to combat gender-based violence crimes.

“The laws themselves cannot make people moral. You can pass severe sentences in court but if society has lost their morals, cases of gender-based violence will never deter,” she said.

The weeklong workshop, facilitated by experts from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, started on Monday at Otjiwarongo in Namibia’s Otjozondjupa region. Enditem

Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh

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