The scourge of gender based violence (GBV) was the topic under scrutiny at a men’s conference held in Kraaifontein last week.
The Bernard Mizeki Men’s Guild under the Church of St Thomas and St Mark Chapel of Wallacedene, hosted the conference themed “Building a safe Community through fighting Gender Based Violence together”.
It provided a platform for men, social activists and church leaders to engage with each other on rooting out violence against women and girls.
GBV cases increase
According to Reverend Canon Maci Makhosini of St. Thomas and St. Mark Chapel, there has been an escalating number of GBV cases relating to the killing of young girls and women in Kraaifontein, the grim reality that gave rise to this event.
“As the church, we are very excited about this initiative – it comes a very long way. We started conceptualising early in the year to identify the need in this community,” Makhosini said to Kwezi Times News.
Event coordinator Athi Majija characterised the event as an obituary of a man – a figure that has died in society.
“The purpose of the event was to revive the person called a man. This robust engagement aimed to afford us as men a perfect opportunity to dismantle what society has taught us of what it means to be a man,” he said.
Partnering with others
Brett Anderson from NGO Heartlines Fathers Matter expressed his wish to partner with more community and church organisations to engage in the conversation of the father figure.
“It was such an awesome opportunity to be part of the event. I’m really excited to be invited and to play a small crucial part in it, and for us to be able to share about our Fathers Matter program,” added Anderson. In his keynote address, the United Democratic Movement (UDM) chief whip Nqabayomzi Kwankwa criticised the government for its failure to successfully address the issue of GBV.
“We are a broken society from broken families, which serves a vicious circle that needs to end. As leaders and policymakers, we need to be proactive in ensuring our policies and programmes warrant the desired outcomes, especially when it comes to issues such as GBV and service delivery.”
Social worker in Kraaifontien and founder of Qula Kwedini Men’s Halfway Home, Mncedisi Blakfesi, commended the guild for organising the event.
“Such powerful events shouldn’t just be shop talk – they need to yield positive outcomes in addressing the root causes, not just solutions.”
