Namibians Support Equal Access to Jobs but Say More Needs to Be Done to Protect Women and Girls From Discrimination and Harassment

15 October 2024
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Christiaan Keulder and Lizl Stoman

Only half of citizens consider it likely that complaints will be believed.

Key findings

  • Three-fourths (74%) of Namibians support equal access to employment opportunities for men and women, even when jobs are scarce. Men are less supportive than women of gender equality in hiring (69% vs. 80%).
  • According to respondents, barriers to women's entry and advancement in the workforce include a lack of necessary education and skills (26%), some employers' preference for hiring men (16%), and a lack of remote or flexible work arrangements (12%).
  • More than seven in 10 Namibians (72%) say women should have the same chance as men to be elected to public office.
  • Minorities report that girls in their communities "often" or "always" face discrimination, harassment, and requests for sexual favours from teachers (26%) and are even prevented from attending school because their families prioritise the education of boys (10%).
  • Three in 10 respondents (29%) say that women in their communities are "often" or "always" sexually harassed in public places such as in markets, on the streets, or in public transport.
  • Around one-fifth (19%) say women in their communities are "often" or "always" prevented from taking paid employment by their spouses or other family members.
  • Almost three-quarters (73%) of Namibians believe that the police and courts need to do more to protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment in schools, workplaces, and other public spaces.
  • Only half (49%) of Namibians consider it likely that people in their communities will believe women or girls if they complain about being discriminated against or harassed in schools, workplaces, or other public spaces.

Namibia ranks eighth-best out of 146 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index 2024, making it the highest-ranked African country (World Economic Forum, 2024). It shares the No. 1 spot globally for educational attainment and health/survival and ranks 17th for economic participation and opportunity and 21st for political empowerment. But despite its impressive performance, meaningful gender gaps exist in wage equality (ranked 90th), ministerial positions (46th), and number of years with female head of state (17th).

In this election year, public attention in Namibia will be on women's participation in the country's political processes, both as candidates and as voters. After the 2014 National Assembly elections, the ruling SWAPO Party implemented a "zebra-style" party list alternating male and female candidates, which increased the number of women in the National Assembly. Only three of the 10 opposition parties have women MPs, including the largest, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), with women in 44% of its 16 parliamentary seats (Institute for Public Policy Research, 2020). These developments have given Namibia gender parity (50% women) in Parliament, with the fifth-highest proportion of women in legislative positions in the world, behind Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Mexico (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2024).

Although men continue to dominate the leading positions on most party lists, the SWAPO Party has elected Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its first female presidential candidate, paving the way for Namibia to possibly have its first woman president. She is joined in the race for State House by four women running as independent candidates - Lisbeth Kaumbi, Rosa Namises, Lydia Kandetu, and Ally Angula (Matheus, 2024).

Despite progress in the political sphere, gender disparities persist in the labour force, with women experiencing significantly lower levels of full-time employment than men (Kalimbo, 2018). The labour force participation rate for women is notably lower than for men, and women are underrepresented in the formal sector. Even controlling for educational attainment and occupation, men continue to earn considerably more than women across most industries.

According to UN Women (2021), Namibia has made great strides in developing legal frameworks to promote, enforce, and monitor gender equality. Yet only about one-third of the indicators needed to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a gender perspective are available. As a result, the exact extent of gender imparity in Namibia remains unknown.

The latest Afrobarometer survey in Namibia shows that most citizens support gender-equal opportunity in politics and employment, though some Namibians say it is common for spouses or other family members to be unsupportive of women taking paid employment.

Minorities also report that girls in their communities frequently face discrimination, harassment, and requests for sexual favours from teachers and that women are often sexually harassed in markets, public transport, and other public spaces.

Only half of Namibians say that women and girls who complain about being discriminated against or harassed are likely to be believed, and most say the police and courts should do more to protect them against such treatment.

Christiaan Keulder Christiaan Keulder is the national investigator for Namibia.

Lizl Stoman Lizl Stoman manages the Namibia surveys for Survey Warehouse

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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