Global Progress Towards Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children
A global problem requires truly global solutions to address the sexual exploitation of children.
Indicators
Age of Consent
Partial
Age of sexual consent is 16 years with a close-in-age exemption of three years.
DH Legal Analysis Namibia, 2020
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
No
No extraterritorial jurisdiction is provided for SEC related offences.
Extradition requires a minimum gravity of one year of imprisonment as well as double criminality. Additionally, the requesting state must submit evidence that proves a prima facie case against the accused for the extradition to be accepted.
DH Legal Analysis Namibia, 2020
CSAM Definition
No
The national legislation does not provide a specific definition of CSAM.
DH Legal Analysis Namibia, 2020
Background Check Required
Partial
There are no mandatory legal provisions for criminal background checks. However the persons included in the sex offender registry may be barred from holding certain positions involving or facilitating contact with children. Such persons may not be allowed to act as alternative caregivers, foster parents or provide child welfare and protection services, or run or manage or assist in institutions for children.
DH Legal Analysis Namibia, 2020
National Commitments
Partial
Namibia has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.
Namibia has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the AU Convention on Cyber Security.
Namibia has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the Council of Europe's Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
DH Legal Analysis Namibia, 2020
Child Advocacy Centers
Not Yet Assessed
SEC Police Unit
Not Yet Assessed
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Not Yet Assessed
Public SEC Case Data
No
Data is only available for cases of rape. No information was found on whether this data is clearly disaggregated, made available periodically and whether it contains data on offenders and on compensation sought by victims.
DH Desk-based Research Namibia, 2020
Age of Consent Law is Appropriate
The age of sexual consent for both males and females is 18 and a close in age exemption (up to 3 years) is provided for consensual sexual relationships between adolescents.
The age of sexual consent is the legally defined age at which a person is considered mature enough to agree to sexual activity. The age of sexual consent varies across jurisdictions around the world and there is no international legal instrument establishing it, however various forms of advocacy have encouraged States to establish a minimum age under which engaging in sexual contact is considered a criminal offence. This is intended to prevent sexual contact with children and to prevent argument that the child consented as a defence.
Often national provisions related to the age of sexual consent include an exception, known as a close-in-age exemption, making consensual sexual activities between young people lawful if the partners are of similar ages and the age difference is not higher than a certain number of years.
To ensure that cases of child sexual exploitation do not go unpunished, ECPAT advocates for the age of sexual consent to be set at 18 for both males and females with a close-in-age exemption of 2-3 years provided in order to ensure young people are not penalised for consensual sexual acts with peers. The age from which the exemption applies should be established by States but may begin for young people somewhere between 12 and 16 years of age.
Yes The national legislation explicitly indicates that the age of sexual consent unequivocally is 18 for both males and females, with a close-in-age exemption for sexual acts between peers (of up to 3 years) is provided by law.