Gender based violence is barbaric.

AuthorBanda, Nelson

Men should be in the forefront of breaking down gender barriers that are a hindrance to women's advancement. Gender based violence (GBV) is a cancer that affects women and adolescent girls as victims. Because of its negative ramifications on women, there is need to develop a vaccine to stop it from spreading. The vaccine lies in engaging men and boys to actively participate in combating GBV. There is evidence pointing to men as initiators and perpetrators of GBV and other negative attitudes boys develop against women. For instance, boys consider it a normal practice to batter their wives once they grow up because they have been socialised to seeing violence in their homes.

Men who have been trained in GBV have a responsibility to redress the situation. These men can serve as role models to influence change in other men and mentor young people to develop positive attitudes towards women. We are allied partners to bring about a social revolution toward the elimination of GBV and negative cultural practices that impact negatively on women. This requires men to get involved in reproductive health care and GBM programmes to create a society free of the social imbalances that disadvantage women and girls.

In Zambia, there has been a sudden rise in cases of rape and child defilement throughout the country. This is an indication that the future of adolescent girls is at great risk. They can contract sexually transmitted infections, physical injury and the life long trauma that women and girls undergo. As the Men's Travelling Conference (MTC) moved eastwards toward the border with Malawi, women we talked to complained of high level corruption among officers charged with the responsibility of enforcing the law. The gap of administering justice between the rich and the poor is wide. The women noted that people who commit sexual crimes can exert influence on the police in the way defilement and rape cases are handled because they have money.

The women told the participants of the MTC that some women do not know where to go once they are battered as the police are insensitive to their needs. In another town, some men we talked to complained that they are also beaten by their wives. They said it was difficult to lodge complaints with law enforcement officers for fear of being mocked as culture expects men to be strong and not be beaten by a woman. Such cultural values are deep rooted among the Chewa and Ngoni speaking people of eastern Zambia.

Men should...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT