Abusers must seek to reform
At a time when the hashtag MeToo global campaign exposing the true extent of sexual abuse experienced by women around the world continues to gain momentum, it is clear that breaking the silence is tantamount to understanding the severity of abuse.
After rape and sexual assault, the greatest threat to women is the physical violence visited upon them by their partners.
Sowetan yesterday published a story of kwaito icon Mdu Masilela who blames poor judgment for assaulting the mother of his eightmonth-old baby.
Masilela, whose performing career has been recently resuscitated, confessed that he did not plan for the process to evict the woman from a house he had set her up in, to escalate into violence.
This is the second known incident of the kwaito star being linked to assault this year.
He notes, according to him, that he has fallen into the same trap twice.
What is not clear is how the musician plans to seek help to start the road to rehabilitation.
Sadly we have not only seen this with Masilela, as the sexual assault cases of Harvey Weinstein raging in Hollywood indicate to the perpetrator’s self-preservation first, above their needs to make amends.
The singer’s wife spoke to Sowetan about the importance of respecting their vows and supporting her husband.
The problem is that the image of the long-suffering wife or partner who stands side by side on a public podium supporting their abusive man without condemning their actions, is tired.
This act is complicit in aiding abuse to continue.
We can appreciate that for each case of abuse, there are more victims in the equation, excluding the one whom the abuser attacks, and these can include wives, partners and other family members inadvertently dragged into the mess.
Masilela, like many role models caught in abuse scandals, needs to know that sorry is not good enough.
Despite a decrease in assault cases, our crime stats still show concerning numbers in physical and sexual abuse cases and we need brave role models who are willing to seek rehabilitation in their bid to contribute to turn the tide against this scourge.