16 Nov 2014

Chairperson of the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), North East region, Ms Ludo Mosojane has called on all people to be advocates against Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Speaking at the end of the YWCA’s silent protest campaign walk on Saturday, November 15, Ms Mosojane said all stakeholders should add their voices against GBV in order to come up with a solution to the problem.

She said if people could make decisions that respect their lives and that of other people, then GBV will be rooted out of the society. Ms Mosojane, who is also the former Court President of Tatitown Customary Court, observed that issues of cohabitation, having a child out of wedlock and poverty contributed to GBV.

 She explained that in some cases, a woman or a man was abused because the abuser knew that the victim depended on him/her for the provision of shelter and other needs.

She said though culturally an unmarried man cannot have custody of a child, some men end up being frustrated and in the process abuse the mothers of their children because they want custodial rights. Ms Mosojane said in most cases abusers are angry people who resort to abuse the other person in order to have self-gratification.

In an interview with  YWCA social worker, Ms Goabaone Motsatsing, she said the silent protest campaign march which was under the theme, ‘Take Action, Add your voice, Stop Gender Based Violence’, was aimed at sensitising the community about the rising incidents of GBV in the country.

She said so much had been said about GBV and this time around through the silent protest, as such, YWCA wanted to grab the society’s attention in a silent manner.

“We walked silently with masks around our mouths and this alone provoked curiosity among the community wanting to know what it was all about,” said Ms Motsatsing, adding that the protesters were mostly the youth because they were the most affected by Gender Based Violence. ENDS