A Namibian media and creative professional is calling on women to speak out and challenge old colonial ideas that still affect how they are seen today. Elmarie Kapunda shared this message during a panel discussion focused on stories of women during Namibia's colonial era.

Kapunda says in the past women were confined and limited to domestic chores. However, women have made significant strides taking up leadership positions in society.

She encouraged women to not just hold positions but transform systems.

"For those that know anybody in parliament that is a female, please tell her to use the voice because it is very, very strong. Please tell her to advocate for the rights of women and not just advocate in the sense of policies but also implement them, because one thing that we have is beautiful rights. The constitution is beautiful; it's beautifully written. It's one of the constitutions. I remember when I was in Zambia, where I was actually told that our constitution is what they use to teach lawmakers in Zambia. So we've got a good law system for what is translating."

However, she indicated that the public needs to move away from women's empowerment statements and push it to gender empowerment, where all genders are given platforms and accountability.

Speakers at the event highlighted that systems and laws that were constructed during colonial times were not designed with women's empowerment in mind.

A researcher and global governance analyst, Suzie Sheefeni, stated that in the past, rape was something that affected the whole community, but now there is a shift toward seeing it as an individual violation.

"The values that were rooted in the English law, they still continue to kind of take on a life in contemporary society, right? And we can think of two very practical examples. The first is the current debate on whether causal race is something that can even be considered as race, you know? And we've seen people in Parliament, parliamentarians, standing up and saying, But no, a husband cannot rape a wife, even though, first of all, legally that is not factual, and morally that is not factual. And that can be rooted in the fact that, you know, we grew up and we were socialised as a result of colonialism and the systems that believed that rape was this particular thing."

She indicated that some stereotypes in society continue to affect how women are perceived in both private and public life.