Young men urged to take a stand against GBV
Disturbingly, statistics show that South Africa's institutions of higher learning are increasingly becoming sites of gender-based violence. Read more here:
Young men across South Africa are being urged to stand up and protect women and children against gender based violence plaguing the country.
The Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund claimed that women have been subjective to this sort of abuse for far too long and more needs to be done to address the issue, and that would require more men and boys at tertiary level to step up!
According to the South African Police’s annual crime statistics, 42,289 rapes and 7,749 sexual assaults were reported in 2019/2020. The majority of these crimes were committed against women by boys and men.
Disturbingly, statistics show that South Africa’s institutions of higher learning are increasingly becoming sites of gender-based violence (GBV).
“Every day, men violate, humiliate, and dehumanize young women. Men, on the other hand, can contribute to the solution. We need to see our young men speaking out against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). We want to see young men in Mzansi saying, GBVF ends with me,” says Tshepo Sefotlhelo, GBVF Response Fund Executive Head: Marketing and Communication.
“For far too long, society has normalized rape and other forms of violence. It is too late to deal with any type of violation after the fact.
“We urgently need to address young men’s attitudes toward women’s bodies.” To change the socialization of boys and young men, the toxicities of masculinity must be addressed, particularly in schools and on university campuses, says Sefotlhelo.
The GBVF Response Fund encourages young men in South Africa to consider the following facts:
- At this very moment, a female student is among the 57.5% of survivors who were unable to attend lectures after being violated by a man.
- In 80-90% of GBV-related crimes on campus, victims and perpetrators are friends, acquaintances, or people they hang out with.
- Currently, men are responsible for 36.1% of students who have experienced physical GBV on SA campuses.
- At their universities, 57.8% of students have experienced some form of GBV at the hands of men.
- According to research, 45.4% of sexual GBV perpetrators were university friends, followed by unknown people at 21.7%, boyfriends at 19%, and lecturers at 15.2%.
“We want our young men to remember that consent is still a real thing, even in a relationship. NO is always a no. A beautiful young lady wearing ‘that skirt’ to a lecture is not an invitation to make a cat call. If young men see their friends acting disrespectfully or abusively, call them out and encourage them to do better,” Sefotlhelo concluded.
Who is the GBVF Response Fund?
President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Response Fund in February 2021 to combat the scourge of GBVF in South Africa.
The Fund is a private-sector-led initiative that aims to support the implementation of the new National Strategic Plan on GBVF by raising financial and non-financial resources and allocating them to high-impact organizations working to prevent GBVF and provide victims with support and access to justice.
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