ShutItAllDown was a wave of anti-Sexual and Gender Based Violence protests across

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

aimed at stopping the spread and continuation of physical and sexual violence against women. The protests, which began on 8 October 2020, followed the killing of 22-year-old Shannon Wasserfall whose remains were reportedly found buried in a shallow grave near

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

, 6 months after she went missing.

Background

On 10 April 2020, 22-year-old Shannon Wasserfall went missing in the coastal town of Walvis Bay. Following her disappearance, communities rallied together using social media in search of her. After six months of her disappearance, her father received an anonymous text message informing him that his daughter was buried in a grave kilometres away from the town. He later informed the Namibia Police who went to dig out the remains. Two days later, one woman and her brother were arrested in connection to Wasserfall's murder.

Public reactions

Following the revelations of the discovery of a grave, massive protests from young Namibians rang out demanding an end to rape and the killing of women in the country. Young people used the hashtag #ShutItAllDown to mobilise themselves on social media platform

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and took to the streets to denounce sexual and gender based violence.

Protests and police brutality

The events of Wasserfall's killing lead to nationwide protests. During the protests, the Namibian police began to counter the protesters arresting 25 youths including three journalists who were covering the events. This followed an almost violent confrontation between protesters and the police alongside Sam Nujoma Drive in the Windhoek city centre. The arrested protesters took to social media to decry police treatment. They were later charged and released. On Monday 12 October, they appeared before the Windhoek Margistrate's Court where several protesters joined them to continue the protests.https://www.namibian.com.na/95528/read/Anti-GBV-protests-draw-international-concern , Anti-GBV protests draw international concern - The Namibian

References

{{reflist 2020 in Namibia Violence against women in Namibia Women's rights in Namibia 2020 protests October 2020 in Africa 21st century in Windhoek