‘Woman made to ingest Masta 900’, dies

Sir,

Have you ever thought about that wonderful and beautiful sound that comes out when male voices sing together?

Well I have been thinking how wonderful it would be if men can join the fight against gender-based violence in the country and sing in one voice with women and girls and shout enough to the killings, rape and other forms of inhuman treatment on our mothers, sisters and daughters.

How does one get to a point of forcing his girlfriend to ingest poison just because she is working and he is not?

Gender-based violence has taken to another level in the country and it appears we are too silent as men and the silence is too loud to be ignored. No matter how successful women and girls’ programmes can be, they can address part of the problem.

Provoked

Most boys think it is okay for a man to beat a woman when he has been provoked. Violence is learned and therefore, it can be unlearned.

The time to stand up as emaSwati men is now; sing in harmony with those who are already fighting the scourge. Let us not make it a women’s issue but we should make it our problem as we have lost our mothers, sisters, friends, daughters and colleagues.

We should not make this issue the police, God’s or government’s problem.

Makama,

The Eswatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) mentioned in a previous right to reply that they have realised the need to empower the girl, boy child in order to navigate through the issue of abuse between couples.

It has an existing programme called the Girls Empowerment Club This has been giving me sleepless nights because we know that every human’s days are in God’s hands, but today there are people who decide to cut short the lives and potential of many women and girls, thus bringing into disrepute the good name of many men who don’t believe and do not use violence against women.

We cannot sit and watch while the safety of our own is being compromised in our name as men.

S Makama