High-profile cases show levels of gender hostility

THE much publicised incidents of public figures unleashing viciousness on helpless women – with one bashing happening at a posh Gauteng drinking hole – have brought home the level of hostility that many women continue to endure from men.

That such reprehensible acts have taken place in public have given face and character to the type of violence that so regularly takes place against women and unmasks the reality that even those in tailored suits are capable of sadism.

History is littered with abominable incidences in which rage has been meted out against women, especially the unassuming and silent rural women whose stories never make it to YouTube.

Not too long ago in the Eastern Cape, we learnt that Willowvale police had arrested a man in connection with the murder of his wife. She had been beaten with a stick in the early hours of the morning for not cooking chicken livers.

Although the incident shocked many in the province, some viewed it as yet another episode in a tedious movie series about absurd cases of repression of women.

That a court sentenced the perpetrator to a mere eight years in prison for killing his wife in a rage over a spurious reason, further represents the larger societal deficiency.

The truth is, women are still the drums for callous men to beat.

But those men holding senior public positions should, in particular, know better.

The seeming “slow action” in the Mduduzi Manana woman-bashing act/s, is probably another blot on the effort to emancipate women. In hindsight, it is a missed opportunity.

To add insult to injury, the bellicose rhetoric that has followed this unfortunate incident has not assisted at all. Unfortunately, the dangerous posturing has weakened some of the forward strides made over the past years and undermines whatever efforts we are making as government intent on quelling gender-based violence.

It is not too late to salvage the situation. But this will require a massive shift in our functioning and behaviour.

In the Eastern Cape, this Women’s Month our stance as government is biased towards investing in strategies and programmes that will ensure that the boy-child is not taken up in a belief that it is cool to smash a woman.

We believe this must start at home. The boy-child has to be brought up with an understanding of gender equality.

It is profoundly important to afford boys an opportunity to make life choices that improve their skills in relating to women and girls through demonstrating positive interaction and increased community participation.

Our approach was developed in response to the increased rate of violence against girls. The video clip that recently went viral on social media platforms of the brutal assault of a schoolgirl at a KwaZuluNatal high school, is a case in point.

The core of our belief is that boys who acquire and build positive skills, will make quality choices which enable them to relate in a respectful manner with the opposite gender.

But our work with the boy-child is sometimes complicated further by the fatherless family pattern in society.

Studies show behavioural problems can twist further when boys grow up without fathers. No boy chooses to grow up without a dad, yet the reality is that millions do. Research shows these boys are at far greater risk of becoming delinquent, abusing drugs or ending up in prison than boys with fathers.

Hence we encourage men to provide positive role models, including those men who wear tailored suits.

Nancy Sihlwayi is Eastern Cape social development MEC