Epako launches sexual assault awareness campaign

In April, Epako High School launched a sexual assault awareness campaign in line with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise public awareness about sexual assault and educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence.

The school's campaign, titled 'The Children’s Movement (TCM)', was aimed at raising awareness for victims of sexual assault. It was launched on 1 April and concluded on 29 April.

Samuel Hamwatile, the president of TCM at Epako High School, said: "Due to the high number of rape cases in the country, TCM and Edu-circle collaborated to launch this campaign. The two clubs want to raise awareness about victims of rape. We want to help the victims in any way that we can."



Hard at work

The two clubs put up posters around the school and posted digital posters on all their social media platforms. They also spread the word on television and the radio. "The campaign was a success, and I hope we were able to meet our objective, as sexual assault affects a victim negatively," said Hamwatile.

Helvira Shilongo Andreas, a life skills teacher and head of Edu-circle said: "This campaign is very important and beneficial to the victims of rape and any other parties involved in sexual assault. The campaign was also launched to educate people on the negative effects of rape, as it traumatises the victims. They may end up hating themselves and develop self-worthlessness."

She said victims will be affected mentally and socially and may develop trust issues.



Rape crisis

A learner who participated in the campaign warned that rape has become normalised in Namibia.

"Rape in Namibia is a serious crime, but due to the repeated rape cases, people start to see it as normal."

Andreas praised the learners for undertaking the campaign.

"If there's anything I learned from this campaign, it's that rape isn't the victim’s fault, and he and she shouldn't be afraid to speak up."

Thanks to the campaign, hundreds of girls and boys have been made aware of the serious problem of rape in Namibia and how to reach out for help.