Okujepisa omukazendu
{{Short description|Northwest Namibian "wife-sharing" tradition}}{{Italic title}}File:Himba-Hirten.jpg man and woman, wearing red otijze and herding in the Kunene region]]
{{lang|hz|Okujepisa omukazendu}} ({{Literal translation|offering a wife to a guest|lk=yes}}){{Efn|Also sometimes called oupanga, which means "demonstrating a true, deep friendship" and can be applied to any act or event evidencing friendship between two persons, not exclusively okujepisa omukazendu.}} is the polyamorous sexual practice of hospitable "wife-sharing" among the nomadic OvaHimba and OvaZemba peoples of Namibia's Kunene and Omusati regions.{{Cite book |last=Mogotsi |first=Immaculate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Dc5uwEACAAJ |title=Gender Based Violence in Namibia: A Response Driven Approach : Technical Report 2015 |date=2015 |publisher=Multidiscplinary Research Centre (MRC), Social Sciences Division (SSD), University of Namibia |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2013-10-17 |title=Kunene chief encourages wife swapping |url=https://www.namibiansun.com/news/kunene-chief-encourages-wife-swapping |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Namibian Sun |language=en}} According to the practice, a man welcomes a male guest (typically a family member or best friend, more rarely an important visitor,{{Cite book |last=Talavera |first=Philippe |title=Challenging the Namibian perception of sexuality: a case study of the Ovahimba and Ovaherero culturo-sexual models in Kunene North in an HIV/AIDS context |date=2003 |publisher=Gamsberg Macmillan |isbn=978-99916-0-383-4 |edition=Reprint |location=Windhoek}} and never a stranger or tourist) to his home by allowing the visitor to sleep in the man's bed and have sex with his wife for the night, while the man sleeps in another hut or outside.{{Cite web |last=Kondo |first=Joyce |date=2021-10-01 |title=Sharing your wife as an act of kindness |url=https://investigations.namibian.com.na/sharing-your-wife-as-an-act-of-kindness/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Investigation Unit |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Immanuel |first=Shinovene |date=3 April 2014 |title=Wife-swapping fuels debate in Namibia |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/wife-swapping-fuels-debate-in-namibia-1670861#.Uz23bvmSyro |work=Independent Online}}{{Citation |title=OvaHimba men do not offer their wives to tourists, Activist |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zAyrMlsN2k |access-date=2024-03-02 |language=en}} The woman has little agency in the arrangement. The opposite arrangement, whereby a woman chooses a female friend for her husband to have sex with, exists, but is rare. Women surveyed in rural North Kunene reported that their husbands lend them to friends in hopes of later having sex with the friends' wives.
The practice has been described as "generations-old", "centuries-old", and "ancient".{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Elizabeth Ofosuah |date=2018-11-07 |title=In these Namibian tribes, wife swapping is a centuries-old practice that still continues today |url=https://face2faceafrica.com/article/in-these-namibian-tribes-wife-swapping-is-a-centuries-old-practice-that-still-continues-today |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Face2Face Africa |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2014-08-29 |title=Namibia may legalize Wife swapping Tradition |url=https://atqnews.com/namibia-may-legalize-wife-swapping-tradition/ |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=ATQ News |language=en-US}} The practice's justifications include belief that it deepens friendship and prevents promiscuity and jealousy in both sexes.{{Cite book |url=https://www.intechopen.com/books/public-health-in-developing-countries-challenges-and-opportunities |title=Public Health in Developing Countries - Challenges and Opportunities |date=2020-09-09 |publisher=IntechOpen |isbn=978-1-78985-873-0 |editor-last=Eze Anugwom |editor-first=Edlyne |language=en |doi=10.5772/intechopen.83134 |editor-last2=Awofeso |editor-first2=Niyi}} Okujepisa omukazendu was reported in 2002 to be dying out, and in 2005 to be "gradually fading away".{{Cite web |last=Gunawandana |first=Monish |date=24 October 2005 |title=Himba in Age of Aids |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200510240857.html |website=AllAfrica}}
Namibian feminists assert that {{lang|hz|okujepisa omukazendu}} is rape, and that women who resist participation or refuse to have sex with guests face repercussions, including ostracism, beating, and harassment. Politician and activist Rosa Namises said that okujepisa omukazendu "is not benefiting women but men who want to control their partners".{{Cite web |date=3 April 2014 |title=Culture clash over tribal wife-swapping in Namibia |url=https://www.news24.com/News24/Culture-clash-over-tribal-wife-swapping-in-Namibia-20140403 |website=News24}} Rural women are identified as being particularly at risk of retaliatory violence.{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Immigration and Refugee Board of |date=2018-06-05 |title=Namibia: Traditions and practices of the Himba [Omuhimba (singular), Ovahimba (plural)] ethnic group of the Ovaherero, including sexual practices and polygamy; location in Namibia; state protection (2019–August 2021) |url=https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=458412&pls=1 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.irb-cisr.gc.ca |language=en}} The practice has been identified as an aggravating factor in Namibia's HIV/AIDS crisis. A 2002 survey found that urban respondents in the Kunene almost ubiquitously found the practice dangerous in terms of STDs and jealousy, while rural male respondents found no such problems with it.
In 2014, Kazeongere Tjeundo, a Himba lawmaker and the vice-president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA),{{Cite web |last=Madlala |first=Thembakuye |date=11 April 2014 |title=Traditional wife swapping is rape |url=https://www.news24.com/life/wife-swapping-in-namibia-20140411 |website=News24}} proposed legislation to enshrine {{lang|hz|okujepisa omukazendu}} in law, fearing that concerns about HIV/AIDS would end the practice. He argued that {{lang|hz|okujepisa omukazendu}} mitigates domestic violence and claimed that women may decline to have sex with guests but should be compelled to share a bed with guests. His proposal generated controversy from activists and legal experts, and the DTA distanced itself from Tjeundo, calling {{lang|hz|okujepisa omukazendu}} "wrong" and promising to take steps against the legislator.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-06 |title=Activists say wife-swapping is rape |url=https://www.namibiansun.com/news/activists-say-wife-swapping-is-rape |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Namibian Sun |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2013-10-18 |title=The Namibian - Chief encourages sharing of wives with friends |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?id=4988&page_type=story_detail&category_id=1 |access-date=2024-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018084431/https://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?id=4988&page_type=story_detail&category_id=1 |archive-date=2013-10-18 }} Tjeundo responded saying that he had been misinterpreted, but refused the instruction from the DTA to clarify his position and apologize.{{Cite web |last=Haufiku |first=Mathias |date=8 April 2014 |title=DTA Condemns 'Wife Swapping' |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201404080516.html |website=AllAfrica}}{{Cite web |title=DTA condemns 'wife swapping' |url=https://neweralive.na/posts/dta-condemns-wife-swapping |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Truth, for its own sake. |language=en}} Rhingo Mutambo, a public relations officer in the Office of the Prime Minister of Namibia, criticized what he perceived to be sensationalist Western media coverage for implying tourists receive "free sex" in Himba communities. He clarified that the practice of {{lang|hz|okujepisa omukazendu}} is restricted to community members, and defended its social functionality.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2020 |title=Letter - Who said Ovahimba offer free sex? |url=https://neweralive.na/posts/letter-who-said-ovahimba-offer-free-sex |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=Truth, for its own sake. |language=en}}