Gender-based violence tackled in 22 books
"It sometimes gets to a point wherein the blesser kills these girls, demolish their houses, burn their cars, demand their money back and destroy all the gifts they had bought for the victim."
As a way to turn the fears and concern surrounding gender-based violence (GBV) into a conversation, a local motivational speaker and author, Bella Lubisi, published 22 books.
All these books cover various topics related to GBV. Her books are directed at males and females, young and old.
Her desire to bring change is rooted in her former years as a teacher and lecturer. “I saw so many people and learners going through a lot, and some were not aware that what they are experiencing was abuse. Some tolerated and accepted abuse, because they were trying to survive; these are mostly learners from disadvantaged homes.
“They end up getting involved with elderly men, ‘blessers’, so they can give them money and gifts. When I worked with some schools, I was disturbed with the child exploitation. The problem is when the teenager or young lady wants to terminate the relationship, the so-called blesser could want revenge. It sometimes gets to a point wherein the blesser kills these girls, demolish their houses, burn their cars, demand their money back and destroy all the gifts they had bought for the victim.
“The first time I learned about GBV, I was a high school learner. Some of my schoolmates did not finish their studies because they had kids with male teachers,” she explained.
Some of the books she published are Maa’ma, why do you have a black eye?, Paa’Pa, why do you have a black eye?, How to Deal with Sexual and Drug Abuse and Have Self-worth, Threatening Behaviour, Cyber and Isolation Abuse and Economic and Financial Abuse.
“This issue affects both males and females. Women are taught not to wash their dirty laundry in public and men are trained as early as possible that boys do not cry.
“These books address various issues related to abuse and each book has a topic. I chose to break them into topics so that the readers can choose the books according to what they are facing and what they would like to read.
The first sets of books are for girls and women. The second sets are for boys and men. Both sets discuss the actions needed to prevent GBV before it happens. These books encourage the victims who are already suffering or have suffered to move out from these situations and move on with their lives.”
ALSO READ: High Court sets aside ex-cop’s application
This author started writing her books in 2019 and released all of them in July this year. “My research changed my reasoning, because I thought GBV was only physical and sexual abuse. During my research, I learned that it is psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence, rape, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and sexual harassment.”
ALSO READ: Eight officials in Lebombo Border passports scam appear in court
You can find Lubisi on Facebook at Bellalubisimotivationalspeaker, and on YouTube. Her books are available on Amazon.com. Email her at bellamotivationalspeakers@gmail.com.
