08 Dec 2021

Maboane youths have agreed to end gender-based violence (GBV) following a successful workshop organised by First Lady Neo Masisi in the village on Tuesday.

The youths, who initially disagreed on what constituted abuse, agreed that for GBV to end, they should be the agents and educate each other.

At the beginning of the workshop, some participants, especially males, argued that they were entitled to sex after spending money on girls and  that a girl dressed in a mini-skirt deserved to be raped.

However, they got to appreciate that a woman had the right to change her ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ and that real men would not be aroused by clothes ladies wore.

They said there should be youth-friendly and easily accessible services as some were afraid of reporting cases of abuse to authorities.

Another point of agreement was that as head of the family, a man should provide for as well as protect his wife and children.

The youths called for constant engagement with the village leadership, constant and clear communication between them and their parents,.

Parents, they said, should not  protect children when they did wrong and should also be role models for all young people in the community. They accused some parents  of sponsoring sexual exploitation of their children and condemned the behaviour saying it endangered the lives of girls.

The youths requested that a follow-up workshop be held within a reasonable time to ensure they continued on the right path.

For her part, the First Lady said she was impressed by the level of enthusiasm shown by the youths.

The enthusiasm was a clear demonstration that they would eliminate GBV in the village, she said.

On this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence theme, “Orange the world: End violence against women and children now”, Ms Masisi said it called for immediate ending of GBV in all its forms.

GBV, she said,  had robbed women of their dignity, stolen their future and left them depressed.

The First Lady challenged the youths to come up with solutions in ending the scourge.

She pointed out that on the side of government,  a number of interventions had been introduced such as establishment of gender and child protection units at police stations and special courts.

During a related event, ‘Pitso ya Borre’, Ms Masisi urged the older male participans not to bottle things up but to seek help when upset.

She told them that they had the responsibility to end GBV, especially since the majority of perpetrators were males while the majority of victims were women and children with the elderly and disabled at higher risk.

Like the younger males, the men agreed to end GBV and promised to engage their children to ensure a new society was built.

For his part, Maboane’s Kgosi Kaisara Phuthego said the village was experiencing increasing cases of abuse and sexual exploitation of under-age girls which he attributed to parents’ failure to discipline their children.BOPA