Governments in Africa are taking creative initiatives to tackle the high level of violence perpetrated against women in their domains. The latest case is Namibia where the Policewomen network conducted what it called ‘Operation Basadi’ last week to reduce domestic violence and other related crimes against women and children.
The word, Basadi, which means women in the country’s dominant Setswana language, refers to the operation that focused on combating crimes such as rape, assault, human trafficking, domestic violence, child labour and baby dumping, among other crimes. The countrywide operation was established in August 2013 under the theme, “We are on it, Gender Based Violence (GBV) must end”.
Briefing the media on its successes and achievements in Windhoek, Police Major-General Anne-Marie Nainda explained that during the operation, 324 vehicle patrols and 286 foot patrols were performed. She said that 219 mobile roadblocks were set up, 1 067 persons were stopped and searched during a random exercise and various weapons, including 15 knives, one machete and one revolver were confiscated.
Major-General Nainda said eight protection orders were issued, 35 arrests were executed on outstanding cases of GBV, seven warrants of arrest issued on outstanding cases and three arrests made for rape. According to her, illicit drugs were also confiscated during the four-day operation. The permanent secretary of the Safety Ministry, Trephine Kamati, applauded the women in uniform for their outstanding work in combating crimes against the women folk in the country.
