05 Sep 2022

Men have been urged to defy the stereotypes that served to normalise gender inequality in Botswana.

Serowe Men Sector Committee members told a meeting in Serowe recently that men have a crucial role to play in the fight against violence on women and girls. 

The chairperson of the committee, Mr Phillip Mokoto said men have to engage other men to speak out against this scourge.

He said the important for men to change  attitudes, whether towards physical abuse, psychological control or domineering decision-making.

Mr Mokoto said some men were also abused by women, but never report their cases, adding ‘’Men deserve protection against these abuses”.

He said male involvement should include the promotion of the role of men and boys in confronting and transforming their own male privilege, power and status, that perpetuate GBV.

Mr Makoto also urged members to mobilise men in different positions to prevent and respond to Gender Based Violence cases.

He said incidences of GBV were mainly rooted in patriarchal social structures that assign different roles, social norms and values to men and women in ways that perpetuate male dominance and female subordination, leading to unequal power relations in families and the community.

Ms Abaleng Khombane from Gender Affairs department said GBV prevention programmes seek to facilitate change by addressing the underlying causes and drivers of violence against women and girls at a population level.

Ms Khombane said gender equality was the state or condition that affords women and men equal enjoyment of human rights, socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources. Ends