Violent Wakeup Call: Brutal Transphobic Attack Highlights Vulnerability of LGBTQIA+ People in Namibia

Two suspects are behind bars in Namibia after the brutal attack of 30-year-old Stay-C Lapworth, a Trans woman, at a truck stop near the Narraville area of Walvis Bay. The attack, which occurred on January 4, left Lapworth with severe injuries including a fractured skull after she was left for dead by the assailants. Lapworth remains in critical condition.

Shabombee Gift Shiaimenze and Jonathan Kamfwa are said to have attacked Lapworth after attempting to sexually assault her and discovering her Trans identity, the Washington Blade reported. Namibian human rights and advocacy groups condemned the attack.

This and an overall increase in attacks against gender and sexual minorities in the southwest African nation have been attributed to the passing of an anti-LGBTQIA+ bill passed by the Namibian parliament and religious extremism. “By passing that bill, Parliament sent a license to discriminate, to assault, to incite violence, and to kill, towards LGBTQIA+ persons,” said Namibia Equal Rights Movement Campaign Manager Omar van Reenen.

On July 11, 2023, the National Assembly of Namibia passed a private member’s bill that defined the term spouse and amended the country’s Marriage Act, in contradiction with a decision by the Supreme Court of Namibia in Digashu and Another vs GRN and Others, in May 2023. The case brought to the court sought recognition of same-sex foreign partners married outside of the country to Namibian citizens as spouses under Namibian law, which the court granted.

An article by the Southern African Litigation Centre notes: “A miniscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgender persons. The recognition of the appellants’ rights and the rights of the few people who find themselves in a similar position as foreign spouses does not in any way infringe on any person’s ability to exercise their own rights, choices, and beliefs. Rushing legislation through parliament in contradiction of a Supreme Court judgement under the guise of moral panic is misleading people and deliberately misstating the ambit of the judgment of the Supreme Court for the purpose of short-sighted populist political gains.”

Read More:

• Ugandan Human Rights Activist Suffers Horrific Homophobic Attack
• Impasse: Ghana’s First Cardinal and Bishop’s Conference Break on LGBTQIA+ Rights
• Welcome Change: Vatican’s Move to Bless Same-Sex Couples a Sign of Inclusivity Push by Pontiff

Following the passing of the bill, the head of the United States’ President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), John Nkengasong, condemned its passing, stating: “We should see this in the context of rights and dignity of the person. The rights to access to quality healthcare, regardless of who you are. Everyone living within the boundaries of a … country i.e. Namibia in this case, has the right to quality healthcare without fear of discrimination, fear of segregation, and fear of being criminalized.”  

Nkengasong warned that AIDS would not be effectively dealt with as a public health threat if countries continue to segregate and discriminate against entire segments of their own populations. “It’s the same approach and dialogue that we had in Uganda that we will have in Namibia,” Nkengasong went on to say, referring to the East African nation which, in May 2023, passed one of the strictest Anti-LGBT laws in Africa and the world, that calls for life imprisonment and capital punishment for “aggravated homosexuality.”

Almost half of all jurisdictions that criminalize same-sex relations in the world are found in Africa, according to Human Dignity Trust, a human rights group. Also according to HDT, 13 former British colonies in Africa still have anti-Homosexuality laws. “The basis of many of the world’s anti-LGBT criminal laws is British colonialism,” said Téa Braun, chief executive of HDT.

By passing the bill, Namibia joins the ranks of countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda, with others like Kenya and Tanzania deliberating on making the anti-LGBT laws already on the books even more draconian. Bucking the trend, however, in October 2023, Mauritius moved to decriminalize same-sex relations, when the country’s Supreme Court struck down the anti-Homosexuality law dating back to 1898, during British colonial rule, terming it unconstitutional.   

While Elder Filipe, a lawmaker with the ruling SWAPO party in Namibia lauded the passing of the bill on grounds of respecting the sanctity of “the family union” as being between “a man and a woman,” Namibian activist Wendelinus Ndiwakalunga Hamutenya-Jeremiah termed it a travesty that gender and sexual minorities in the country continue to be unprotected, noting that discrimination against LGBTQI people undermines the human rights principles outlined in the Namibian constitution while sounding the alarm on the prevalence of anti-Trans violence in the country.

“We fight for Trans liberation, we fight for a better world for us all. We are tired. We are angry and we are devastated, but we will not stop fighting for justice for Stay-C,” Hamutenya-Jeremiah said. According to the Namibia Equal Rights Movement, authorities have denied bail to the two men charged with Lapworth’s attack. The two are expected to remain in custody until March 27, when their case is heard by the Walvis Bay Magistrate Court.  

_{Photos: Unsplash, Stay-C courtesy of Facebook}