GBV: Start with educating young boys to win the war

The devastating impact of the coronavirus has been a discussion matter on all fronts, including in the sociopolitical arena.

History is awash with other pandemics of similar destruction, but never before has a disease unleashed this kind of social impact.

Covid-19 has emphasised the importance of technical advancement and simultaneously exposed the limitations of scientific advancement in dealing with the crisis.

It has revealed explicitly how the life of a community can be shrunk to mere family units.

The subsequent lockdown levels to control the social spread of the virus brought some unintended consequences, one being positive changes to pollution in the environment. It also allowed for a dramatic reduction in violent crimes such as murder and rape.

Nevertheless, at the other end of the stick, gender-based violence (GBV) increased exponentially.

There is no shortage of critiques on lack of commitment from the private sector in dealing with GBV issues.

Whether it is the public or private sector, gender inequality and subordination of women is a bitter reality. Looking at the broader community, the situation is alarming.

In the first week of the national lockdown, more than 85,000 calls related to GBV were received by police nationally.

When the whole nation was dedicating time to combating the virus by staying at home, this upsurge of domestic violence across the country was neither anticipated nor prepared for.

Gender violence may include both men and women, but unfortunately, available statistics indicate it is primarily women at the receiving end.

In most cases victims are women, with rural women perhaps at a greater disadvantage, as they seldom receive support or interventions.

This is a sad reflection of our failure to achieve equal status for women of all races, classes and abilities, even in the 21st century.

Generally, modern society accepts sexual equality as a reasonable principle, but the inconsistency between the principle of equality and the reality of palpable inequalities among the sexes continues to expose the enduring supremacy of male privilege throughout the social matrix.

The socialist feminist proposition positions class as the most basic arena of human conflict, but this has always been challenged by radical feminists.

Their fight for equality in work-related fields and other social aspects may have impacted positively on the current social order, but this is still unable to prevent the ongoing abuse targeting women at all levels.

Notwithstanding, GBV remains a societal issue for men as well as women at all levels of society and all political persuasions.

One has to agree that many categories of feminist actions and approaches have positively changed general views about gender issues.

However, unfortunately, they have not secured the elimination of GBV or acceptance of gender identity.

In the SA context, the government has established various structures to secure women’s welfare across all levels.

Since the dawn of democracy, the government has strengthened laws to protect women from abuse.

However, failure of appropriate implementation of these laws has cost us immensely.

This particular issue is discussed constantly across all levels, but we have yet to find a suitable answer to ending GBV.

Perhaps as a society we are not paying enough attention to the lengthy period children spend in educational institutions as young girls and boys.

The current curriculum does speak about value systems but unfortunately this does not find expression in its applications, either in the schooling system or in higher learning structures.

The department of basic education’s introduction of life orientation as a subject possesses components to deal with gender issues. Regrettably, the subject itself is not taken seriously in the schooling sector, by either teachers or pupils.

The Western Cape department of education’s new draft guidelines on gender identity and sexual orientation is already under severe criticism from various corners.

Does this mean the fight to counteract violence against women is inevitably a losing battle? Have we already begun to lose the war?

The answer is a resounding no. However, it is urgent that we begin to transform prejudiced attitudes about gender and GBV among adolescent boys and young men through life skills education on all available fronts.

The negative characterisation of a weak and helpless woman can only be replaced when the opposite gender is able to respect women in all their roles and manifestations.

Currently, the fight against GBV is positioned by legislative responses, restrictions on commodities like alcohol, and campaigns by various women’s organisations and government structures.

But all of these strategies pay little attention to one of the most important components: young men. They could be the driving force and the catalyst that changes the situation through proper education and gender-sensitive orientation.

It is high time we focused on gender sensitisation among boys and young people at all nodal points in communities, within both formal and informal sectors.

Creating opportunities for young men in engaging their future roles as parents and partners should be a key priority. If we are sincere in our approach, this shift in focus will provide better results.

Perhaps as a society we are not paying enough attention to the lengthy period children spend in educational institutions as young girls and boys