Introduction of a mandatory minimum sentence or sentencing guidelines for convicted rapists. The Minister of Home Affairs of Namibia has said that violence against women affects a large number of Namibians and has its origins in the social institutions and history of Namibia. The perception of narrowly defined gender roles is transmitted through a range of social institutions such as the media, family, churches, schools and culture. From an historical point of view the Minister noted that after Independence discrimination was abolished and democratic order introduced with expectations that inequalities would be done away with through affirmative action. However, transforming gender bias in Namibia's fragmented society of extreme imbalances remains a challenge.
Legal changes can only facilitate transformation in the legal status of women.
From that pers-pective the Minister of Home Affairs commended the University of Namibia for introducing gender related programmes and research. Minister Ekandjo stated that violence is a by-product of the colonial past and the industrial age. In conclusion I would like to emphasize the fact that there is no place in a democracy for the same discriminatory laws which existed under the Apartheid Regime, similarly there is today also no place for practices which exploit and degrade any group of people. I also would like to mention that this Report was compiled by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of the Namibian Police, with inputs from the Ministry of Justice, the Gender Sectoral Committee on Violence against Women and Children, the Women and Children Protection Unit, Non-Governmental Organisations and the Law Reform and Development Commission.