Women and Child Protection Units — Namibia's Police-Based Response to Gender-Based Violence, and Its Capacity Strain

Namibia opened its first specialised police unit for gender-based violence - the Women and Child Protection Unit - in Katutura, Windhoek, in July 1993, embedding police officers, and later social workers and medical liaison staff, in a single unit tasked with handling rape, indecent assault, and domestic-violence cases, particularly those involving minors.
The model was later reinforced by the Combating of Domestic Violence Act of 2003 and expanded into Gender-Based Violence Protection Units operating under the Ministry of Safety and Security nationwide. A 2013 demographic survey found that 33% of Namibian women aged 15-49 had experienced some form of gender-based violence; police recorded 5,356 GBV-related cases in 2022, including 1,378 rape cases, and 18,500 cases in the 2025/26 financial year - roughly 50 reported incidents a day.
Namibian reporting in 2026 describes the units as 'consistently stretched beyond capacity', citing a backlog in forensic analysis, a shortage of specialised investigators, and case attrition before trial as GBV caseloads outpace resourcing. More than three decades after its founding, the model demonstrates that a dedicated police response unit is sustainable as an institution - but that sustaining its casework capacity as reporting rises is a separate, unresolved challenge.

Read the full analysis: https://namibia.unfpa.org/en/topics/gender-based-violence-3