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Namibian rights activists have braced themselves for a showdown with the government for "disregarding" their inputs to a children's rights bill, which they feel are undermined by its provisions. Representatives of various women's and children's rights groups, who have voiced their concern through the Namibia NGO Forum (NANGOF), demonstrated against the Children's Status Bill outside parliament in the capital, Windhoek, this week. Among the objections raised by the organisations were that the bill, which seeks equal rights for children born in and out of wedlock, provides automatic custody rights to the surviving parent - who could be an absentee father or even a rapist. The bill, first tabled two years ago, has gone through several changes and two public hearings - one in each chamber of parliament - but failed to take into account any of the objections to the controversial provisions. NANGOF has called on parliament, which is yet to give the proposed legislation its final stamp of approval, to reject the bill unless it incorporated the recommendations gathered in the public hearings. The NGOs said they supported the principles of the bill: that children born outside of marriage should not be discriminated against, and that single fathers should be encouraged to play an active role in their offspring's upbringing. However, they were concerned with certain provisions, like the one that grants a rapist full parental rights over a child born as a result of the rape, making it mandatory for the woman who was raped to seek the consent of the rapist before the child can be placed for adoption. Upon the mother's death, the rapist automatically becomes the child's sole custodian and guardian. "This is horrifying and unfair," said Veronica de Klerk, executive director of Women's Action for Development, a rights NGO. "What we are up in arms about is the fact that a rapist's rights are protected by the bill ... People should not benefit from criminal activities." Another provision, which seeks to provide automatic sole custody and guardianship to the surviving parent, was also unacceptable to the rights groups. "This will work against the interests of the child, and against the interests of primary caretakers such as grandparents, who may have actually been caring for the child," said the NGOs in a joint statement. "The reality is that women are the ones taking care of children: breast-feeding them, teaching them language, and changing their nappies," said Ian Swartz of the Rainbow Project, a lobby group for the rights of sexual minorities. "This is not about gender equality but about the rights of children." The groups also felt that the proposal to grant equal custody to unmarried parents could lead to conflicts in practice and undermine children's rights to maintenance by both parents. NANGOF said in most cases it was unlikely that both parents would take responsibility for the daily care of a child born out of wedlock. "We agree that fathers need more protection for their rights as fathers," said Dianne Hubbard, a lawyer at the Legal Assistance Centre's Gender Research and Advocacy Unit. "But we don't agree that the mechanism of equal custody and guardianship will serve the best interest of the child in the majority of family situations." Hubbard recommended that custody of a child born out of wedlock be granted to the mother, because the social reality in Namibia was that mothers were usually responsible for daily childcare. The NGOs suggested that fathers be allowed to apply for custody at any time in a magistrate's court, without the need for lawyers, but that access be granted only after investigation by a social worker. Source: IRIN