Let’s talk about why we are such a violent society

THE spate of murders in our country is a reflection of the extent to which our society has become violent and dysfunctional.

In fact, the violence that is being meted out against many of our fellow citizens, including women and children, has worsened with each passing decade.

Every year, the government initiates campaigns against gender-based violence the most popular being the 16 Days of No Violence Against Women and Children.

Media and other organisations have followed suit, to try to sensitise our populace regarding the scourge and to prevent such tragedies from happening.

Social media also weighed in with protests against gender-based violence, some local and others international.

So, no one – man or woman – can pretend the message hasn’t reached them.

And yet, we are still ranked top among the countries with the highest number of murders, rapes and femicide.

Our society has a high number of predators who prey on the most vulnerable.

A cheating man stabbed and hung a pregnant woman.

A woman hired men to kill her husband because she wanted to cash in on his life insurance.

The list is long.

As a society, we seem to rely on violence to solve some of our most pressing issues. Unless we come to grips with this mindset, no amount of screaming and marching will help us find solutions.

Millions of us were raised and had to endure life under of one of the most brutal racist systems in the world.

Under this inhumane system, black people were dehumanised, brutalised and made to feel as if they were of no real worth.

All the brutality that we have never dealt with or faced up to is coming back to haunt us.

Could we please have a conversation. Maybe, we will finally understand the root causes we must tackle now to eliminate the scourge of gender-based violence, once and for all.