Formative years important to break GBV cycle

ONCE again the issue of abuse was on full display as South Africa marked the international 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

This year was particularly stark as the country continually experienced levels of abuse that may suggest the campaigns require a lot more attention from society than they have been accorded.

There was clearly no silver lining to reverse the current trends, and it is crucial to understand this to avoid campaign fatigue.

This year also saw the gender-based violence summit convened at the highest level of government. The key challenge remains how to implement the many progressive ideas that emerged from the summit.

The many harrowing accounts of how violence is harboured within family structures calls for all of society to revisit the collapse of family and community structures in the country.

The statistics of dysfunctional environments are frightening, with an estimated 10 million children growing up without parents and therefore without a balanced upbringing.

At the centre of this dysfunction is the male child, the potential perpetrator of violence.

Half the time they may grow up with no positive male role models in

Focusing on the boy child to fight gender-based violence is universal and must be tackled with ideas from across the world.