Sex-talk taboo leaves minors in rapists’ clutches

Acting Oshikoto police commander, deputy commissioner Wynand Neels, says apart from parents and guardians leaving minors in the hands of untrustworthy people, the cultural norm in some tribes where sex talk with minors is a taboo is the leading cause rape cases going unreported.

Minors who fall victim to rape end up traumatised when they grow older, he added.

Neels was responding to a Namibian Sun inquiry that emanated from a recent crime report after the Oshikoto police arrested a 20-year-old man at Okankolo for allegedly raping two minors - aged 10 and 14 - on multiple occasions over the last two years.

The case came to light at a community police engagement when the grandmother of the victims informed the police of what had been going on.

It is alleged that the suspect - identified as Arsenal Kambonde, who is one of the victims’ neighbours - visited the minors at their house on several occasions since 2022 while their parents were away, and raped them. He allegedly promised them money in exchange for their silence.

Kambonde appeared in the Ondangwa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and was denied bail.



Silence is deadly

This is, however, only one of many rape cases that see the victims harbouring a secret instead of speaking out to parents, guardians or the police. In some cases, a year or more can pass before the crime is reported.

In January, Namibian Sun reported that police in the Oshikoto Region were investigating a case of a 39-year-old man accused of raping his 15-year-old daughter.

In March, also in Oshikoto, a 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her 43-year-old father.

Just last week, a 12-year-old girl who was on her way home from school was raped by an unknown suspect, who reportedly chased her with a traditional knife and tied her up before committing the heinous act. The incident took place on a Friday, but the victim only spoke out five days later.

In many instances, the rape of a minor is only reported when the victim falls pregnant and the police are roped in by social workers.

In July, Namibian Sun reported that a 15-year-old girl was raped and impregnated by her 40-year-old stepfather, a self-proclaimed pastor, at Ombogo village in the Omusati Region. The case was opened a year after the victim was first sexually violated, and the girl’s mother only learnt about the crime several months into her pregnancy.



Taboo

Neels argued that although some parents do speak to their children about sex and the reproductive system, others don’t - which he attributed to it being considered a taboo in some cultures.

“It depends from parent to parent. In some cultures, parents tend not to talk to their children during their early ages, so when the child is between five and eight, they might not know the body parts. There are parents who talk to their children about what should not be done to them, but I know in some cultures it is a taboo to talk to children about sex,” he said.

Neels noted that the Namibian Police host engagements with communities at schools and churches to talk about rape and other crimes. “That is why if you see some of these rape cases being reported after so many years, it is because we are constantly having community engagements and we pick up on these case and act on them,” he said.

Although the police can act on cases that happened in the past, crucial evidence can no longer be collected, he said, urging parents and guardians to engage their children about sex early in order for them to speak up immediately when they fall victim to sexual abuse.

“The children keep it [a secret] for so many years after being violated, and because we speak to children at schools, now at least they can tell the teacher or anyone they trust - even if they were threatened [to keep quiet]. And that’s how it gets to the police,” Neels said.

“Although a rape kit cannot be done after years and it might affect the case, as the police, we do act.”



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