Event educates men to be better people
CHILDREN who grow up with absent fathers can suffer lasting damage.
They are more likely to end up in poverty or drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, have a child out of wedlock, or end up in prison.
To address these challenges, the Growing Up Without A Father South African Foundation hosted its annual #NoExcuse men’s conference.
The event is to uplift and educate men to be better people. This year’s conference took place on November 19 in Midrand, and was attended by 150 men and 10 women.
The purpose of the conference was to raise awareness of the impact of fatherlessness in South African communities, educate men about mental health issues, and highlight men’s use of strength positively in an effort to eradicate gender-based violence.
Founder, Charley Pietersen, said fatherlessness was an epidemic and ruining more lives than all diseases put together, thereby creating generations of pain and despair.
“Mental health is as equally important, with a focus on aspects around suicide among men, stress, depression, retrenchment, unemployment, and overall wellness. We need to pledge our commitment as men and women in fighting gender-based violence.”
Crime statistics released this week by Minister of Police Bheki Cele showed that gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa were increasing.
Cele reported that more than 10 000 people had been victims of rape between July and September this year.
“This represents an increase of 10.8% compared to the same period last year. The killing of women and children worsened in the second quarter, with reports of 989 women who were murdered alongside 315 boys and girls aged 0 to 17 years old. South Africa, we have a serious problem on our hands.”
Pietersen said: “These statistics prove that, apart from the lack of awareness created around emotional, financial and psychological issues men face, they need a place where they can be sensitised on how to handle these challenges.
“As men, we must take care of our physical health, moreover prostate cancer, a healthy lifestyle, sex challenges, and responsible drinking, among other things.”
He said the conference was informative and had top-class speakers, among them City of Joburg council speaker Colleen Makhubele, as well as advocate Lesley Sedibe, Brian Mofokeng and Thabang Tlaka.
“We can put an end to gender-based violence and femicide, but only if we understand what is causing it and take decisive action to stop it. Most of the work we see around it focuses on creating awareness or on providing support for victims and survivors.
“Both are important, but neither of them will stop it from happening. We need to stop it from taking place completely so there is nothing to create awareness about and no victims to support,” Pietersen said.
Their values tied in with Soul City Institute’s Kgalemelang: From Awareness and Accountability, which stated that “freedom from violence is a human right for all. It is unacceptable that the rights of girls, women and LGBTQIA+ people are violated at such alarming rates”.