Former First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingo has attributed the high prevalence rate of gender based violence in her country to patriarchy. According to wikipedia ” patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term patriarchy is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in feminist theory to describe a broader social structure in which men as a group dominate society”.
She noted that “Patriarchy has no tribal lines; it has no racial lines therefore Gender-Based Violence is a global problem and not just in Africa. Western countries don’t have the traditional customs and norms you refer to yet they are grappling with the scourge of GBV, as we are. I think as Africans we are sometimes too hard on ourselves and are quick to blame traditional customs as if every aspect of tradition is negative”.
In an interview with NAW Magazine, Monica Geingo who was the wife of the late President Hage Geingo explained that many other push factors like broken homes, fatherlessness, inability to control emotions, alcohol and drug abuse, excessive forms of jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour, and the absence of the necessary psychological intervention can also be blamed for gender based violence.
Gender-based violence (GBV) in Namibia is a significant issue, with high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV), affecting around one-third of ever-married women (33%) with physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and similar figures for women experiencing any violence (around 27-35%). But, the former First Lady said Namibia has done exceptionally well in terms of identifying what those push factors are and given the high prevalence of gender based violence, it has become urgent to implement measures to prevent and prosecute abuse and protect victims.
Monica Geingo said women and children are being abused and “we have a responsibility to drastically reduce the prevalence of this abuse by holding anyone who perpetrates it held accountable and taking measures to identify and divert potential perpetrators as the signs are usually there”.
The Former First Lady explained that “we have perhaps enabled a permissive attitude towards abuse against women and children and it is important that society starts to share a common understanding that abusing women or children is wrong and won’t be tolerated. Part of this is holding anyone who is guilty of Gender Based violence accountable as there are too many powerful people in our communities who escape responsibility. Even though it is less prevalent, there are also women who abuse men and this too must be treated with the same contempt as the more prevalent abuse of women, she mentioned.
Asked about her professional background aside her role as the then First Lady, Monica Geingo stated that” I cut my teeth at the Namibian Stock Exchange from the age of 24 and after heading the Listings division, I left to do Corporate Finance for an Investment Bank. I left the investment bank to become the Managing Director and one of the founding shareholders of Namibia’s first and largest private equity fund, which position I occupied for eleven years. In addition to the private equity fund, I served on the former President’s Economic Advisory Council for eight years. The former President also appointed me as the Deputy Chairperson of the Public Office Bearers Remuneration Commission, which I served for nine years and resigned from on account of my relationship with a Public Office Bearer.
I am also the Chairman and a shareholder of a commercial Bank with a mobile banking technology focus. I am fortunate that all of this happened before a relationship started with my husband.
Source: NAW Magazine/Forshes News
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