Namibia first lady releases powerful video after trolls ‘slut shamed’ her

Namibia’s First Lady, Monica Geingos, has fought back against internet trolls, who hurled insults at her, in a video released for International Women’s Day.

The video was posted on social media on Monday, in which Geingos said: “I’ve decided that enough is enough... I will not be silenced anymore.

“I recently instituted defamation lawsuit against this type of behaviour..,” she added.

The 44-year-old said she has often been slut-shamed, as well as called “fat, ugly, stupid and too ambitious” by cyberbullies.

Geingos is the third wife of Namibian President Hage Geingob, 79, who she married in 2015.

She shared the video on Twitter, writing: “As part of the #InternationalWomensDay#ChooseToChallenge theme, FLON challenges gendered insults as they humiliate and reduce women into restrictive boxes of societal norms and expectations.

“If you allow yourself to be bullied and insulted, you may be signalling that the conduct is okay and normal. Disrespecting women is an enabler of gender-based violence as it reduces women to objects.

“The next time you see a tweet, a Facebook or Instagram post shaming women, remember its intent. Gendered stereotypes are harmful & often result in the violation of women’s rights & bodily integrity.”

In response, one woman wrote: “The time for complacency is long gone and has passed, and belongs to another era. It is time for women to stand up for each other and call for stronger action to end this dehumanizing behaviour against women.”

Another said: “This is powerful Madam! Thank you! #ChooseToChallenge societal norms that restrict the space for girls and women! May God richly bless you!”

Someone else commented: “This spoke to me and awakened something in me, it’s true our silence only protects the perpetrators be it male or female, it in no ways protects us. Thanks, Madam First Lady.”

In the video, which has now gone viral, Geingos said: “When they are not asking when or if my husband will impregnate me... When I’m not ‘busy being a manipulative, deceitful gold-digger,’ I am ‘busy running the country’ as I have ‘bewitched my old Sugar Daddy husband’ who is ‘too blind to see through my feminine charms.”

“When you stand up for yourself... You will be called a troublemaker, too aggressive, too unladylike. That is why many of us prefer not to challenge gender bias. That’s why we endure being called gold-diggers, sluts... Too fat or too thin,” she said.

The First Lady highlighted a series of abusive tweets directed at her in the video, such as one written by Mwahangange Kondja.

He told CNN that Geingos was being targeted by trolls because of her age, saying: “I have to give my unbiased opinion, even though she used a screenshot of my tweet from my old account and made it look like I was being misogynistic. I cannot deny the misogyny and insults hurled at her. There’s clear misogyny from young people towards her perhaps because of being young herself, so they see her as a peer of some sort.”

By sharing the video online using the hashtag #YourSilenceWillNotProtectYou, Geingos charged women to speak up for themselves.

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