Beliefs and Attitudes toward Gender, Sexuality, and Traditions amongst Namibian Youth

This 156-page report discusses the findings of research conducted in Namibia with youth regarding their attitudes toward gender, sexuality, and traditional practices. The research was conducted to provide information to improve educational and social programmes around HIV prevention, gender equality, and sexual rights, as well as provide data to policymakers, organisations, and scholars. While findings differed among the young people, the research pointed to a general need for more information and communication. "What is abundantly clear from our findings is that there is a thirst for information about sexual and equality issues amongst Namibia youth. They have indicated that the door is open for a more nuanced and honest dialogue."

The findings are based on responses of young Namibians to a questionnaire developed specifically for the research, as well as on follow-up focus groups to gain qualitative data relating to the issues raised in the questionnaire. One group of respondents, referred to as the OYO cohort, consisted of 318 young Namibian people aged 16-20 who lived outside of the capital and were either attending local public schools or Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) youth group meetings. The second cohort, referred to as PS (private school), consisted of 77 young people in grade 11 aged 15-18 attending a private school in Windhoek. The report mentions that the non-randomised sampling means findings cannot be generalised nationwide, but some overall basic patterns can help to better understand young Namibians' beliefs and attitudes towards gender, sexuality, and traditions.

The research found significant differences among the cohorts. For example, the private school cohort demonstrated more support for gender equality and sexual rights. The PS cohort also demonstrated more support for reform of reproductive rights in terms of legalising abortion as well as for lesbian and gay rights. However, a fairly low number of both groups supported decriminalisation of sex, with 37% of the OYO cohort demonstrating support for the liberalisation of sex work compared to 27% of the PS cohort. In terms of young people’s beliefs about what constitutes rape and where the blame should lie there is again large difference among the cohorts. "Only 30% of the OYO cohort agreed with the statement "Females/males should never be blamed for getting raped", whereas 70% of the PS cohort agreed with the statement."

While the PS group overall tended to demonstrate more liberal attitudes, another pattern noted was difference by age in the OYO cohort - "The youngest cohort of the OYO respondents were consistently more likely to choose answers supporting gender equality and sexual rights, than the older OYO sub-cohort (20-year-olds). This suggested that there is a mini-ideological generation gap in Namibia, with the younger people embracing, or at least wanting to be seen as embracing, more inclusive ideology about gender and sexuality."

In terms of tradition, the majority of young respondents supported the preservation of general traditions in Namibia such as language, food, and dress, but there was little support for more specific cultural practice such as first menses ceremony, widow inheritance, and lobola. However, most respondents from both cohorts supported the preservation of respect of elders, with slightly higher support amongst the PS cohort (85%) and those from the OYO who were born or living in urban areas (80 and 81% respectively), than from the OYO cohort as a whole (79%). "These findings contradict the widely-held assumption that urban living is responsible for the breakdown of age-related authority. It also suggests that elders, because their authority is already recognised, could be an important resource in HIV education and prevention."

In terms of sexuality, the responses related to male ad female sexual pleasure were not meaningfully different. However, for questions about sexual behaviours females were generally more likely to answer "Don’t know" than their male counterparts. "This suggests that males are more confident about their knowledge of sexuality than females, although they were more likely to gain their information about sex from their friends or media; hence, the accuracy of their knowledge is dubious." As well, among the male respondents the urban group again demonstrated more progressive awareness, even though they were on average more than a year younger.

When asked about what they wanted to know more about, the responses, questions, and comments, and the number of "Don’t know" and missing answers, suggest that there is substantial misinformation about sexuality amongst Namibian youth. While sexuality can be a difficult point of discussion, the report notes the importance of innovative practices, describing the experience of the OYO youth magazine and a film project dealing with unwanted pregnancy and rape undertaken by OYO.