Subj : NAMIBIAN COMMUNITY LEADER FILMED PERFORMING HATE CRIME ON TRANS WOMAN
To : All
From : Major Queen
Date : Mon May 04 2020 02:28 pm
MAY 4, 2020 SOURCE EXPRESS
A brutal and disturbing hate crime has been captured on video, with a
transgender woman in Namibia being tied to a chair and whipped.
LGBT+ activists in Namibia have condemned the attack captured by mobile phone
of
community leader and politician Frans Migub �Goagoseb who is seen attacking
the helpless 21-year-old woman who is tied to a chair, outside the city of
Gobabis, in eastern Namibia.
In the footage he is seen humiliating, verbally and physically assaults the
unidentified victim, whipping her until she falls to the ground, all while
calling her queerphobic slurs like moffie (a derogatory Afrikaans terms for
gay). He continues to beat her with a whip even as she remains on the ground.
It's been claimed that �Goagoseb, who was an unsuccessful presentational
candidate for the Namibian Democratic Movement in 2009, attacked the woman
after discovering that she is transgender.
The victim was allegedly initially turned away by police when she attempted
to lay charges against her attacker.
A case of assault to cause grievous bodily harm was eventually laid after the
group Out-Right Namibia intervened.
The organisation said on Facebook that it had been in contact with both the
victim and the police commissioner of the Omaheke region to ensure that the
woman "is provided the much-needed support to open and pursue their case
against the assailant."
Out-Right Namibia expressed its thanks to the commissioner and his team "for
their prompt response to this inhumane treatment that befell a transwoman
whom we deeply empathise with as she casts her faith in the justice system to
restore her dignity."
The group further called on the public to refrain from sharing the video on
social media.
"We see that the video will incite the already-held homophobic and
transphobic attitudes that society does practice in the country,"
Communications Officer Ndiilo Nthengwe told One Africa TV.
Nthengwe noted that the victim's "dignity had already been removed" and
"their privacy to how they self-identify has been exposed."
According to The Namibian, �Goagoseb and two other men have now been arrested
in connection with the attack.
LGBT+ people in Namibia face discrimination, harassment and violence.
Consensual "sodomy" between men is illegal and could be used to prosecute
LGBTQ individuals, although this is not believed to have happened since the
country's independence in 1990.
