eMBALENHLE – Men’s Voice is a community organisation that is fighting for men’s rights amidst a time that domestic and gender-based violence is regarded as the second pandemic.
The organisation said the government needs to look deep into domestic and gender-based violence and treat it fairly by not taking side of any gender, because taking sides creates hatred among men and women, and even leads to division among societies.
“Our organisation’s mission is to restore men’s dignity and to teach young boys to be responsible in life and to deal with challenges we have in our society, such as drug and alcohol abuse, and also broken marriages which we believe are caused by our government for giving women first preference in everything. What type of society are we building? Divided and chaotic,” said Mr Mkhululi Lite, Men’s Voice secretary.
Men’s Voice said men are abused, killed and even beaten by their partners and some are homeless because of the laws that they believe do not assist but suppress them.
“We are aware that in the eyes of society men are always guilty as charged, because of the system that was created.
“But we are restoring. Men don’t report about their abuse for fear that the police will laugh at them.
“We want to end the perception that men don’t cry. Men are human like everyone else and they also have tears that are supposed to come out when feeling pain. We want our society to know that a man can cry and feel pain, but cannot express his feelings like a woman because of pride and being afraid to be laughed at,” explained Mr Lite.
Men’s Voice also wants boys not to be victims like their fathers.
The organisation teaches them to speak out about their daily challenges of avoiding wrong or bad decisions.
There are different sessions for boys as they work hand-in-hand with the departments of Social Development and Justice.
Ms Thembi Msibi, court intermediary at Evander Magistrate’s Court, said it is true that not only women are victims of abuse.
“Even men are abused and the courts are pushing a culture of reporting any form of abuse. We work together with all community organisations such as Men’s Voice.
“Men must come out and seek information on how they can be assisted at our courts, we are there for everyone regardless of gender,” said Ms Msibi.
