Help is out there– even for men

It’s hard to consistently agree with Police Minister Bheki Cele, but this much is true: “It is clear attacks and violence meted out too women, children, the elderly and the most vulnerable in this country remain shameful,” he said.

Cele was speaking at the release of the second quarter crime statistics (1 July to 30 September) and noted, of the 10 516 rape incidents reported to the SA Police Service in the Q2 period, 4 726 happened either at the home of the victim or of the perpetrators who were known to the victim, such as a family member, a friend or a neighbour.

“The scourge of violence against women and children in South Africa must be confronted equally by law enforcement, the whole of government and the whole of society, head-on,” said Cele.

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The key phrase is “the whole of society”.

Police can enforce laws, courts can put people away and prisons can hold them until overcrowding inevitably leads to the bare minimum of time served before they are released after committing gender-based violence (GBV).

While acknowledging men, too, are victims of GBV, it is overwhelmingly men who commit these atrocities. And we can beat our chests over the fact that the police are ineffective at combatting GBV, but there is one inescapable truth: we cannot have a cop in every home.

Which is why initiatives such as the Men’s Imbizo, launched at the Jabulani Safe Hub Soweto yesterday, aim to tackle the many issues men face.

According to Mzansi Act Now, which is running the programme, some of these include parental alienation, abuse, suicide, respect, violence, spirituality, financial wellness, mental health, depression and the breakdown of marriage.

It is a brutal list of problems men will rarely open up to. Help is out there; life doesn’t have to be this hard. The time for “cowboys don’t cry” is over.

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