Patriarchy in Namibia: Challenges and solutions
The word 'patriarchy' comes from the Latin word for father, but patriarchy nowadays has a more sinister connotation.
It refers to the rule of patriarchs but more importantly, to a society where men rule, dominate and make decisions. In the first sense, patriarchy is about the location of power in a society. Then, patriarchy comes to mean a society that is measured by male values, where male is normal and female is abnormal; where male is superior and female inferior.
In this second sense, patriarchy is a value structure. Thirdly, patriarchy comes to carry ethical connotations. Male things are good and females things are bad; male things are strong and female things are weak.
Patriarchy claims that male is whole, female is sinful. In this third sense, patriarchy is an ethical system, or a part of an ethical system by which we classify, test and judge the world.
This is theoretical, and it is important to put some flesh on the bones of the definition of patriarchy. Some examples of the patriarchal construct include, but not limited to:
A company that pays male staff more than it pays the female for doing the same job is putting case value on men and women; a higher value on men in fact!
An airline passenger who worries on hearing that the pilot is a woman.
A bank that will not allow a married woman to have an account without the presence or approval of her husband.
An undertaker who says to a woman priest, ‘Burying the dead is a man's job'.
A father who sends his son to university rather than his daughter, though his daughter performs much better at school.
In all traditional cultures, social roles are very clearly defined, and what is challenging is that these roles are severely frowned upon. Challenges to traditional roles of leadership or gender functions closed systems are regarded as challenged to the security and health of the community and dealt with often with great severity.
But it must also be remembered that traditional societies are not all agreed about these social roles, which vary very widely – even in one region of Africa. Women are sometimes agriculturalists – and sometimes it is the men. Lineage is matrilineal in certain cultures. In very few cases, polyandry is practised by the women, whereas polygamy is more common.
Sometimes, it is limited to key leaders; in other places, it is quite general. What we must also note is that usually, the men hold the power and control the means of production, as well as the sources of communication. Women sometimes accept these challenges passively and covertly.
Increasingly now, especially in more westernised or economically developed parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the traditional values have broken down or are rapidly changing. Labour patterns have caused hundreds of thousands of Southern Africans to leave their traditional villages, to relocate to single-sex hostels and townships.
As a result, new patterns of relationship have developed, which certainly include new forms of polygamy in which several wives or partners are maintained in various locations, along with the original wife or wives back home.
Such disruption and dislocation have left the Southern African male with a sense of loss of community, of purpose, of tradition and culture. What has replaced it is a temporary, financially constrained and secretive series of arrangements which cause pressure of a sort not traditionally experienced. The escalation of abuse which we are now aware of in Namibia is at least partly caused by this disruption. The fear is that abuse is becoming thought of as normal to the new social order.
We have a theological, ethical and social responsibility to challenge sin, and promote holiness at a corporate and communal level, not just at an individual one. Now how can we address these issues in a collective and constructive manner?
By education and enabling people to recognise the existence, the impact and the pain caused by behaviour that puts women down. We need to listen to women's stories of their own experience, in particular. Providing appropriate programmes of behavioural modification – rather like Racism Awareness Programmes that help people to see that alternative behaviours are not just an option, they are a realistic, practicable and fruitful option.
Developing a basic understanding of ethical values and practices based on the Namibian Constitution and the United Nations Bill of Human Rights. Too often today, with the
collapse of apartheid, the behaviour is determined in the heat of the moment, for convenience pleasure or gain, without reference to any external standards.
Secondly, by community action, the transformation of social behaviour depends on agreement in the community to initiate change. This is the point at which the community can make a difference, by seeking to change not just the behaviour of Christians but the behaviour of all. And instead of waiting for government, social services or secular NGO's to take the initiative. Christians are in a position to call together community leaders to plan action. The community need to find ways of speaking out against violence against women, by newsletters, indabas, through marches, and through a presence at other community events.
Churches are often so busy raising money, engaging in petty internal disputes, correcting doctrinal heresy, but they do not notice that the community is in serious trouble. Thirdly, by legislation.
It would be a great step forward if churches and civil societies engage members of Parliament at local, regional and national level, what plans they have for the implementation of the constitutional rights and protection of women through constant advocacy. Above all, do not be complacent, change can come, but it must come from all of us.
As the new normal requires people to continue working from home, these employees need to take the time to review their portable work devices and ensure they are adequately insured from theft or unforeseen damage.
The awareness around the need for insurance, both in a professional and personal capacity has increased tenfold since the onset of the pandemic. Having insurance cover for your assets provides peace of mind that your valuables are well covered to face the worst when unforeseen circumstances happen.
Corlia Kotze, CEO of FNB
Insurance Brokers Namibia said, “As many employees continue to work remotely, it’s important to monitor how this trend will affect your insurance cover for various household and work assets or contents. The line between personal and business insurance is starting to blur.
Working from home not only touches on the exposure of your work devices or gadgets, it equally impacts your home contents that might be in use more frequently than the norm or taken out to public places such as restaurants for quick meetings.
“It is important to understand your insurance contracts and claim parameters. Every policy sets out your obligations in the event of a claim. This includes the circumstance within which a claim must be reported to the police and your insurer or broker, what information you must provide to your insurer, as well as the time frame within which to dispute the outcome of a claim.”
Key insurance points that you need to consider, to ensure that your home workplace is adequately covered, include:
Ask your employer about your work device’s insurance cover
Many employees who use laptops that are owned by their employers aren’t sure if their devices are covered, whether inside their homes or when they are out and about.
If you are financially liable to replace a work device, you should insure the device on your policy and advise your broker or insurer of the situation and note the interest of your company.
Ask your employer what the company policy is and make the necessary changes to your policy to ensure that there is no financial impact to you. Unfortunately, most personal policies will not cover the excess that you might be liable for in the event of a claim on your company policy.
Read through your ‘all risk’
cover – Take the time to check your ‘all risk’ cover to ensure that all your devices such as cameras, cellphones and tech gadgets are insured, in case they are stolen, lost or damaged.
It is important to remember that unless your items are specifically noted on the policy, they will NOT be covered outside of your home.
This means that if an incident occurs on your premises, depending on your policy wording, could potentially mean no cover.
Check your policy to see what cover is provided in the event of a power surge/accidental damage
– You should contact your insurer or broker who will be able to advise what sections of cover to add or increase the limit to your policy to have reasonable coverage.
Most insurers offer power surge cover up to a certain limit under the household section which may not be adequate if you have expensive electronic items.
Being at home also reduces the risk of burglaries or theft, but accidental damage to items could be more frequent. Check with your broker or insurer if you have cover for this and the limits and exclusions.
Read and understand your policy fine print
– Don’t forget to double check on any exclusions that may have been applied to your policy, for example, some insurers apply a safe clause endorsement for specified items such as rings or necklaces and will not cover theft of jewellery from the home unless it is kept locked in a safe whilst not being worn. This may be applied even if your home is occupied.
Get your household contents inventory in check
– For your household contents – go through each room thoroughly and note all of your belongings, creating a checklist with a full current replacement value for each item; think of the worst-case scenario if you had to replace everything, you want to ensure that you have the correct cover to be able to do this.
“Being underinsured is a common issue for claims on buildings and contents, and a policy holder is often unaware until it’s too late. Our role as brokers is to bring about peace of mind by working with the information provided by the client to ensure that the risks one is insured for, and the level of associated cover, are appropriate for their needs,” Kotze concluded.