Leveraging International Law to Strengthen the National Legal Framework on Child Sexual Abuse Material in Namibia

Abstract

With the gazetting of the Regulations of the Child Care and Protection Act 3 of 2015, on 30 January 2019, a crucial regulatory piece of children’s rights in Namibia has finally been operationalised. However, the Act insufficiently addresses new emerging online offences against children such as the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, and hence leaves a considerable gap in the protection of children’s rights. As the Namibian Constitution follows a monist approach to international law, this article argues that the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography can be directly applied to complement the national legal framework to prosecute cases of possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material, while upholding fair-trial principles.