NVP SA mobilizes men to speak up on GBVF

NVP SA mobilizes men to speak up on GBVF

Non-Violence South Africa facilitated a men’s dialogue for workers at the Khauta Solar Site near Welkom in the Free State.

The lunch break engagement is meant to create a safe space for men to talk about gender-based violence and femicide.

GBVF is a big concern in most parts of South Africa and the world. Majority of cases in South Africa, it is women that are assaulted and brutally killed by their partners. NVP facilitators engaged male workers about their understanding of GBVF and what might be some of the issues that contribute towards the increasing cases of GBVF in their communities.

“We were taught that a man is the head and a woman is the neck. Her role is to support the head. But today’s women have forgotten their role They no longer want to be the neck because they earn more than us (men),” said one male worker.

The expressed view received mixed opinions among workers. Some of the workers supported the above comment, but others flatly rejected this perspective.

“We live in a democratic country were both men and women enjoy equal rights. We need to stop doing things the old way. This thing of saying a woman is the neck and a man doesn’t cry, must come to an end,” passionately responded another worker during the heated dialogue.

The day’s dialogue was the first of four sessions to be hosted by NVP SA at the Khauta Solar Site this November.

NVP SA facilitator Sibusiso Ndlovu is delighted that targeted workers have warmly received the program.

“It is good to see men opening up about GBVF. This global challenge can be resolved through continuous dialogue and increased awareness. I just wish that the workers we met today will continue to have the same dialogue in their communities to help end GBVF,” said Ndlovu after the first NVP dialogue at Khauta Solar Site.