Miss Drug Awareness Thatohatsi Mofokeng held a fun and informative Gender-Based Violence (GBV) awareness campaign in Meadowlands
Abuse is not love.
Meadowlands Miss Drug Awareness Thatohatsi Mofokeng held a fun and informative Gender-Based Violence (GBV) awareness campaign for the youngsters of her area at Palesa Primary School in zone 9.
She is known as Miss Drug Awareness but also addresses other social ills that are affecting her and the people around her and this time around, she decided to address abuse against women and children
The brave young women ensured that all her attendees’ temperatures were checked upon arrival at the venue and they were sanitized. Inside the venue, chairs were far apart from each other to practice social distancing.
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Mofokeng had organised a drama for the opening of the event that demonstrated what the business of the day was. The drama was followed by an open discussion between the attendees about GBV where people had different views about how to deal with the abuse and they all had a question of what could be done to eradicate the problem.
It was stated by one of the attendees that awareness campaigns are not only aimed at educating the people who always attend them but to also let the perpetrator know that what he or she is doing is wrong.
Mofokeng said she was also affected by GBV and the last few months were rough for her. She explained that when she was told to up and leave, she could not because she was blinded by love.
“Until I realised that I had to put my life first and my self first because in such situations you sacrifice everything,” she said.
Speaking from experience Mofokeng explained that an abusive relationship is hard to leave because the victim always defends the abusive partner and refuses to take advice from anyone.
“I believe that abusers are over thinkers. Why do you have to beat me up and make me a punching bag when you can go seek help in a psychologist or a therapist and make yourself a better person.
“You are not only hurting me but also the people around me. Today I stand strong taping into the power of empowering more young people,” she said.
GBV survivor Mulalo Mudau said she used to say if a man beat her, she will also do the same, but her abuser came, and she drowned deep in-love. She urged the attendees never to judge a situation from a distance.
She explained that she also judged because she was never been abused but when she experienced it, it was hard to act or to leave the toxic relationship to the extent that she ignored the advice that her friends gave her.
She took the people who were in the class down her memory lane until where her perpetrator threatened her life with a knife which is where she saw the light.
One of the speakers Nomfanelo Mabona said that it’s all well and good to empower a young girl but they have gravitated so much to lift her and forged about a male child.
She alluded that the words that a commonly used in most tribes that ‘qina ndoda unga khali'(Which means be a brave man don’t cry) break them. Mabona added that no one can sit down and talk to groom them.
Mabona raised an example of parents or guardians who raise boys in an abusive environment not being able to sit down and teach them that what they see is not okay or the right thing to do.
She said most abusers inherited life from their past which means it’s a generational curse that no one tried to break it. She explained that people don’t have to suffer multiple times to act and do away with the words Bekezela because life is precious. More man reminded him to attend GBV campaigns and for parents to also focus on raising a boy child to be a real man, not an abuser.
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