Between April 2024 and February 2025, Namibia recorded 4,405 cases of gender-based violence (GBV), of which 1,345 were cases of rape. These figures may not reflect the actual prevalence, as many incidents, particularly in rural communities, remain unreported due to persistent barriers to reporting. The most recent shocking case happened in June when a 25-year-old woman was gang raped at knife point by nine minors aged between 15 and 17. The news spread widely across social media, and with it came a violent discourse. One might expect that such dark and painful news would spark empathy, outrage, and solidarity. Instead, the news was met with many jokes, victim-blaming, sexual objectification, and open mockery of the survivor. These online comments are not merely insensitive humour. It is a disturbing display of how sexual violence is normalised and reveals social evidence of a broader rape culture in Namibia.
When Rape Becomes a “Tournament”
The title of this article emerged from what unfolded in the Facebook comment sections where the case, in effect, turned into a “rape tournament.” At the dawn of the news, Namibians on Facebook rephrased this incident from a crime to sports, competition, and masculine camaraderie. In this Facebook discourse, the 9 suspects lined up in the photo like a football team, sparking sports references. A significant proportion of users, predominantly male, mocked the incident, curious about who the “man of the match” was and who “kicked the first penalty”. They further referred to the assault as a “round-robin tournament,” all of which transformed this violent crime into a public spectacle.
This discourse appeared to erase the criminal and dehumanising act and reduced the survivor’s trauma to jokes and entertainment. Thus, the “rape tournament” term is used deliberately not to sensationalise the crime, but to describe how many commenters collectively reframed gang rape as though it were a sporting event. These comments construct an entirely different narrative about the survivor and perpetrators. She is no longer portrayed as a survivor of violence. She is rather signified as a playing field upon which the “match” occurred. This, in turn, frames the perpetrators as players whose acts are evaluated, celebrated, and compared. This shows that the football jokes were not isolated comments but formed a pattern.
The social media comment section acts as a cultural space in which violence is publicly rehearsed, reinforced and legitimised.
The humour masked the true horror of the assault. When rape becomes a tournament, it sustains the rape culture in Namibia. Sexual violence alone does not sustain rape culture; it is also fed by the everyday attitudes, language, and habits that excuse, downplay, or normalise these acts. At its core, these Facebook comments show exactly how humour is used as a tool to keep rape culture alive and well in online spaces.
Victim Blaming Masked as Safety Concerns
Victim-blaming rarely appeared in explicit form. It was masked as “safety advice,” in which commenters framed their responses as concern for women’s safety. A significant number of people questioned why she was out that late at night, with one male user cautioning all women to stay indoors as soon as the streetlights go on to protect themselves. Women were advised not to walk at night, not to make unnecessary movements after dark. One female commenter even suggested that the survivor should have remained at the home of the man she had allegedly visited and simply endured the “walk of shame” the following morning. At face value, these comments appear protective. However, they subtly relocate responsibility from those who commit violence to those who experience it. The discussion therefore ceases to ask why boys assaulted a woman and instead asks why a woman was outside.
The safety of women in Namibia is a concern given the increasing GBV-related cases in the country. However, the Facebook discussion extended beyond safety concerns and focused predominantly on regulating women’s movements, clothing, relationships and behaviour while remaining largely silent on the conduct of the alleged perpetrators. This kind of talk just aims to control women instead of questioning violent and toxic male behaviour. The burden of preventing sexual violence was therefore relocated from those who commit it to those who experience it. This sheds light on the double standards on how male and female bodies are regulated in Namibia.
Sexual Objectification of the Survivor
Another pattern that was buried under humour was the sexual objectification of the survivor. When a woman is objectified, she is considered only for her appearance and bodily functions, often seen as an instrument without regard for her personality and dignity. The comments section revealed how the survivor’s body itself became the object of public consumption. The commenters were not asking “what happened to her?” Instead, they were preoccupied with what happened to her body: “They wanted to taste the cake.” “Cow meat” and many other dehumanising sexual comments. Using food metaphors to describe the victim proves this point.
The initial use of sports terminology turned the attack into a competitive game. Nobody talked about her as a real person who had just survived a horrific trauma. Instead, she became a basic commodity, with her entire worth tied directly to male sexual gratification. This shift in language takes all the focus off the brutality of the assault and places male pleasure, curiosity, and privilege right at the centre. A woman’s body was defined within the parameters of sex, penetration, attractiveness, reproduction and marriageability. The assault becomes almost secondary, whereas her sexuality becomes primary.
This discourse, masked in humour, completely reframed the incident from rape to merely sex, further minimising the crime and normalising the crime. Rather than acknowledging her intense trauma, online commentary objectifies the survivor’s body to feed toxic male humour and patriarchal fantasies. In many ways, the comment section acted as an extension of the original crime.
These comments did not inflict the physical wounds, but they kept the harm alive by asserting toxic narratives that stripped away the survivor’s dignity and normalised sexual violence. This renders digital platforms the main stage for public misogyny.
African Feminist researchers have long revealed how rape culture relies on more than just physical assaults. It is sustained by the everyday attitudes, casual language, and social habits that minimise, excuse, or normalise sexual abuse. Social media platforms offer spaces where hateful, misogynistic ideas can be shared, cheered on, and normalised in front of massive crowds. To combat the online normalisation of sexual violence, Namibian feminists have in the past mobilised digital resistance to challenge the toxic discourse prevalent in online spaces. Activists spearheaded the transformative #ShutItAllDown movement, utilising platforms like Twitter/X and Instagram to document and confront the casual trivialisation of Namibia’s femicide crisis. Namibian Scholarly work published on the African Feminism platform shows the same threats, different platforms exposing the mechanics of victim-blaming and the sexual objectification of women within local digital spheres. Online harassment functions as a tool for silencing women. Organisations such as UNESCO Windhoek addressed the emergence of AI-facilitated abuse, specifically targeting the crowds who mock deepfakes of high-profile Namibian women.
Namibian law carries a significant legal void regarding technology-facilitated gender-based violence, with no specific statutes currently criminalising digital violence. Although Namibia possesses robust frameworks like the Combating of Rape Act and Combating Domestic Violence Act, these instruments fall short in confronting the nuances of online normalisation of rape, anonymous harassment, and the weaponisation of social media. In response to these shortcomings, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has initiated a national dialogue to refine the proposed Cybercrime Bill. This legislative effort seeks to penalise digital misconduct, including cyberstalking and the exploitation of deepfakes, which disproportionately target women in local digital spheres.
There is a need for Namibian policymakers to fast-track the draft Cybercrime Bill with explicit clauses criminalising online harassment and violence against women. Additionally, the government should update older laws and equip law enforcement with specialised digital forensics training to effectively trace anonymous online perpetrators. There must be a push for accountability of localised social media platforms to ensure rapid moderation of viral victim-blaming content, paired with national digital literacy campaigns that foster online empathy.
Jermine April is a Namibian researcher, writer and social and gender consultant working in psychosocial rehabilitation. Her research and writing explore gender, structural and gender-based violence, feminist issues, political violence, and the intersection of gender and digital spaces. She has also engaged in research consultancy and media conversations on gender and social justice issues.