Unravelling Taboos Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Edited by Suzanne LaFont and Dianne Hubbard Gender Research and Advocacy Project LEGAL ASSISTANCEUnravelling C ENTTaboos: RGenderE and Sexuality in Namibia ii Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Unravelling Taboos Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Edited by Suzanne LaFont and Dianne Hubbard Gender Research & Advocacy Project LEGAL ASSISTANCE CENTRE Windhoek NAMIBIA Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia iii © Legal Assistance Centre, 2007 4 Körner Street Windhoek P.O. Box 604 Windhoek Namibia 264-061-223356 264-061-234953 Email – [email protected] Website – www.lac.org.na An Adobe Acrobat (pdf) version of this publication is posted on the LAC website. Printed and bound by John Meinert Printing (Pty) Ltd in Windhoek. ISBNv Unravelling 978-99945-61-23-0 Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ vi 1. Overview: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Suzanne LaFont ........................................................................................1 History: Colonialism, Christianity and Tradition 2. Making Tradition: A Historical Perspective on Gender in Namibia Heike Becker ..........................................................................................22 3. Past and Present Practices: Sexual Development in Namibia Philippe Talavera .....................................................................................39 4. The Myth of the Asexual Child in Namibia Philippe Talavera .....................................................................................58 5. The Interrelationship of Ohango Ritual, Gender and Youth Status among the Owambo of North-Central Namibia Sayumi Yamakawa ..................................................................................69 Legal Issues: Inequality and Law Reform 6. Ideas about Equality: Gender, Sexuality and the Law Dianne Hubbard .....................................................................................86 7. Gender and Sexuality: The Law Reform Landscape Dianne Hubbard .....................................................................................99 Youth, Gender and Sexuality 8. Adolescent Sexuality: Negotiating Between Tradition and Modernity Panduleni Hailonga-van Dijk .................................................................130 9. How Did I Become the Parent? Gendered Responses to New Responsibilities among Namibian Child-Headed Households Mónica Ruiz-Casares ............................................................................148 10. The Social Context of Child Rape in Namibia Rachel Jewkes, Hetty Rose-Junius and Loveday Penn-Kekana ................167 Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia v Reproduction and Marriage 11. The Gift from God: Reproductive Decisions and Conflicts of Women in Modern Namibia Martina Gockel-Frank ............................................................................182 12. “We all have our own father!” Reproduction, Marriage and Gender in Rural North-West Namibia Julia Pauli ..............................................................................................197 HIV/AIDS: Gender and Survival 13. The Face of AIDS is a Woman Lucy Y. Steinitz and Diane Ashton .........................................................216 14. HIV/AIDS, Gender and Sexuality: Socio-Cultural Impediments to Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Autonomy Lucy Edwards .......................................................................................234 15. The Economics of Sex Work and its Implications for HIV for Sex Workers in Namibia Debie LeBeau .......................................................................................255 Same-Sex Sexuality: Silence and Discrimination 16. Breaking a Public Health Silence: HIV Risk and Male-Male Sexual Practices in the Windhoek Urban Area Rob Lorway ..........................................................................................276 17. Same-Sex Sexuality among Damara Women Elizabeth Khaxas and Saskia Wieringa....................................................296 Gender, Sexuality and Power 18. Emotional Abuse and the Dynamics of Power and Control within Intimate Partner Relationships S.M.H. Rose-Junius ..............................................................................314 19. The Male ‘Powersexual’: An Exploratory Study of Manhood, Power and Sexual Behaviour among Afrikaner and Owambo Men in Windhoek Sheila J. Wise ........................................................................................330 Bibliography: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia .........................................345 List of Contributors ....................................................................................361 v Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Acknowledgements he Legal Assistance Centre would like to thank all of the authors for their Tcontributions. We would also like to acknowledge the following persons for their assistance with the production and launch of this book: Sona Eggerman, a legal intern sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association through the Young Professionals International Program funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, assisted with the difficult tasks of checking references and finalising the bibliography. Anne Rmmer assisted with copy editing and managed the project budget. Perr Caplan assisted with the book design and did the layout. The inspi- ration for the book cover comes from the official website of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is the alma mater of one of the editors. Ncky Maras planned and designed the book launch. Naom Kstng provided administrative support. Funding for the project was provided by HIVOS as part of a project to raise public awareness and understanding of gender issues in Namibia. Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia vii “Is African tradition really detrimental to women? Where did people’s ideas about tradition come from? What is meant by tradition?” – H Becker “One sex worker in Katima Mulilo says that … she will have sex without a condom after negotiating a higher price. It is chilling to think that clients are willing to pay more for unprotected sex – in essence, they are paying more to get HIV.” – D LeBeau “The pastor said, ‘You know as you are sitting here that there are women who have relationships with married men; some of you have even stolen money from your madams … but you sit here with the difficulty that lesbians have relationships with each other … but those people have been created by God …’.” – E lKhaxas “A male community worker explained, ‘Children who have been sexually molested are treated like people with leprosy. They suffer stigma. They are isolated in the community as if they are guilty.’” – R Jewkes, H Rose-Junus, L Penn-Kekana “A similarity between Afrikaner and Owambo men was the consistent use of the analogy “men are hunters”. They use this analogy as a way of expressing their sexual desires, sexual pursuits, and sexual conquests.” – S Wse “People from the earlier era were in some ways more enlightened than people today. Most children had involved themselves in sexual games that were played before puberty and, hence, could not lead to pregnancy. These games were a safe way to discover sex and parents would often cast a blind eye on them.” – P Talavera viii Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Chapter An Overview of Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Suzanne LaFont Introduction “Man Marries Two Sisters: I can handle both – Hubby” read a recent storyline in the New Era. The groom went on to say, “Everybody wants more than one car, house or cattle so why can I not desire more than one wife? … It is my democratic right to have more than one wife and if the government respects human rights, it should not object to my marriage” (Tjiuma Kamberipa, quoted in New Era, 8 January 2007). Such sensationalistic news reporting and the subsequent quote from the groom highlight some of the issues relating to the concepts of gender equality, sexual rights, democracy and human rights in Namibia. This volume seeks to unravel the misconceptions, stereotypes and taboos surrounding these ideas and offers suggestions for ways to move forward. The advent of Namibian independence in 1990 created the opportunity for vast political, economic and social changes. Liberation offered the hope for the realisation of other forms of freedom, such as the restructuring of gender roles and sexual liberation. In many ways the new Constitution and legal reform have reflected this atmosphere of equality and the expansion of personal liberty. However, independence has also fostered nationalism which in turn has fostered a self-consciousness about national identity and morality. The struggle for post-colonial national identity has sometimes involved the rejection of things foreign, including perceived immoral sexual attitudes and practices. At the same time, a reverence for ‘traditions’, including those that deny gender equality and sexual self-determination, is defended under the auspices of nationalism.1 1 • An Overview of Gender and Sexuality in Namibia Human rights discourse is often at odds with the ‘new’ Namibian national identity and morality. There is a desire, especially among the young, to be modern, politically correct and Namibian, and at times it has not been easy to reconcile these sometimes contradictory notions in terms