Teach children to fight abuse
SURVIVORS of violence should be protected and an awareness against women and child abuse must be raised.
Remember, boys and girls of today are men and women of tomorrow. Teachers in crèches need to instil good moral values in the lives of toddlers.
It is our duty as parents to instil discipline in our children while they’re still young.
In the Pedi language they say, “A dog’s dung can be moulded when still tender. Once it gets dry, it pricks!”
It means a child’s behaviour can be changed when they’re still young. Once they grow up, it will be difficult for the parents to straighten their crooked ways.
When a boy beats a little girl, he might grow up with such behaviour and carry it into adulthood, when he will then assault his wife.
Statistically, women suffer very high levels of sexual assault, rape and domestic violence. Women deserve no physical abuse, rape, sexual harassment, emotional or financial abuse.
The government shouldn’t only generate policies opposing violence against women, but it needs to also implement such policies.
The Domestic Violence Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act need to be enforced to make a difference. Abuse is like a wildfire, it can start with parents and inevitably spread to their children.
Abusive men behave like harmful bearded spiders who spin abuse after abuse, ending up with a web of abusive tendencies in which innocent women fall prey.
Women should flee from such predator-and-prey kind of relationships. Your silence could be a ticket to the graveyard! Amos Tebeila, Mohlaletse Village