EMOTIONS ran high as hundreds of Keetmanshoop residents took part in a youth-led protest against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) at the town on Friday.
The protest formed part of the countrywide #ShutItAllDown movement.
Some protesters broke out in tears when a moment of silence was observed to remember victims of femicide after the group assembled at the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court to hand over a petition following a march.
Suzette Dausas, the distraught mother of a girl (4) whose naked body was discovered under a tree by a passer-by in 2010 after she had gone missing from the family home, said she is still traumatised by her daughter’s brutal death.
“My child’s death is still painful and hard to accept,” she said on Friday, appealing to parents to keep their children safe.
“Men, leave our children alone,” she begged.
The protesters, who handed over the petition to principal prosecutor Lewis Chigunwe, said they assembled with a deep sense of outrage over SGBV in the country.
“Men are the main perpetrators of all forms of violence in Namibia, but many men do not think of GBV as an issue they are responsible for, nor as an issue, they have a responsibility to end,” the petition reads.
The protesters demanded that President Hage Geingob address the nation and declare that another pandemic is raging in the country killing women.
“My child’s death is still painful and hard to accept,” she said on Friday, appealing to parents to keep their children safe.
“Men, leave our children alone,” she begged.
The protesters, who handed over the petition to principal prosecutor Lewis Chigunwe, said they assembled with a deep sense of outrage over SGBV in the country.
“Men are the main perpetrators of all forms of violence in Namibia, but many men do not think of GBV as an issue they are responsible for, nor as an issue they have a responsibility to end,” the petition reads.
The protesters demanded that President Hage Geingob address the nation and declare that another pandemic is raging in the country killing women.