Empowerment of men takes centre stage

Joburg based Sechaba Motsieloa is co-founder of EmpowaMen which launched in July 2019, in a bid to change male mindsets and make waves by engaging in forums where men can freely express topics that they would ordinarily internalise.

A chartered marketer (CM-SA) by profession, he has been working in the corporate world as a senior executive for the last 20 years.

Motsieloa works with businesses and organisations to manage their reputations, optimise communication, and link their strategy to execution. His strength is the ability to step back from situations, see patterns and connect the dots to reveal the full picture of events and emerging patterns in various markets. A key factor in the establishment of this organisation was his desire to reshape modern masculinity, through “EmpowaMen Conversations”.

To date, these have taken place in boardrooms, backyards, conference spaces and more recently, online.

His belief is that the most important conversations are the ones that can change the world, the ones people are ignoring because they are difficult to tackle.

Frank conversations in these forums and engagements are encouraged, allowing men to come face-to-face with behaviour patterns and thought processes that have caused great damage to individuals and society, be it physical or emotional.

“The necessity for this organisation came about due to increasing volume of conversations around men being the perpetrators of violence against women and children. It prompted us to encourage men to join the broader society to come up with a sustainable solution to root out this behaviour,” says Motsieloa.

“The dominant narrative was pushing the voices of men to the side and for any solutions to be sustainable, you need everyone’s involvement and participation. We therefore felt the need to create the Empowamen platform, the vision of which is to challenge and inspire men to contribute positively and sustainably towards true equality in society.”

He feels we live in a highly judgmental world, where men may not find it easy to express their past or present pain.

“The Empowamen platform equips men to confront and challenge toxic masculinity in the face of a judgmental and superficial world, giving men the reassurance that masculinity in itself isn’t toxic, and that they can become complete and holistic”.

The conversations are predominantly led by prominent men that are open about their experiences and therefore call out other men, encouraging them to open up. Motsieloa believes men should be the ones calling each other out, not to ridicule or blame but to hold each other in compassion.

This, he says, has worked very well and the stories of change become relatable. Coming from a country where the general perception could be that patriarchy is dominant, cannot be easy. Specifically, if you’re attempting to effectively change popular mindsets. He responds to this by explaining that they employ different platforms and themes to tackle the issue. As well as various authoritative and ordinary voices to engage the subject.

“The programme targets various sectors in society through participation in public discourse, paradigm shift summits, campaigns, in-house workshops, executive dialogue breakfasts and signature talks,” he says.

The reason the multi-pronged approach is used is to meet men where they feel at home and can engage the topics.

Motsieloa explains: “We have nine themes that frame the discussions: men and identity; men and family; men and wealth; men and violence, men and LGBTQI; men and substance abuse; men and health and men and the future.”

Motsieloa believess current gender-based violence stats should not be used to alarm and shock, but rather to mobilise all of us into action because stats tend to be a mirror of the current reality and daily experiences that marginalised communities deal with.

“It highlights the need to continue to engage everyone, especially men, to work towards a sustainable society. Making the numbers visible and talking about it opens up the conversation so people know they are not alone and society cares,” he says.

This lockdown period is unprecedented and presents a new challenge for all vulnerable people, especially women and children. Access to information on what to do should an abusive domestic situation arise and people’s readiness to listen and take prompt action is key. As a solution, Motsieloa suggests “removing the women and children from the situation because leaving them there threatens them and will not be helpful at all”.

For more information about the conversations contact 082 088 5252 or visit EmpowaMen at www.empowamen.co.za

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