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Militating against sexual and gender-based violence | FutureLife-Now! organises GBV awareness open days
Posted by Khanyi Khuzwayo 
on
02 October 2024, 15:20
SAST
Stop the rape culture. Stop sexual harassment. Stop gender-based violence. Stop it, and stop it now! Mundra Kulele, GBV activist
Gender-based violence, or GBV, has long been a scourge in our societies, so the FutureLife-Now! Programme welcomed the opportunity to organise a GBV Awareness Open Day on 30 May at Mkwichi Secondary School under the theme: Harnessing the inequalities and injustices faced by young people and finding ways to end them.
Gender officers from the district council led the event. They addressed gender issues, while focussing on how learners can identify different forms of GBV, as well as the mechanisms for reporting them. Other speakers included police officers who discussed victim support unit services and a child protection worker, who explained GBV case management structures at the community level.
The event had multi-generational participation, as apart from the learners, representatives from the Parent Teacher Association, the mother group, the village headman and other members of the community were also in attendance. Learners had important messages about GBV to impart, which they did dynamically through drama, dialogues, poems and music. The message certainly got through, as in the words of one of the learners:
For a long time, society has told us that boys don’t cry, which has caused us to suffer in silence. From this event, I learned that as boys, we need to express our struggles so that we can receive the appropriate support. – Smith Banda (Mkwichi learner)
Pilirani Wanyasa, the school’s youth facilitator, summed up what the event achieved:
This event has been an eye-opener and has raised GBV awareness among learners. We will work closely with the school administration to ensure that GBV issues are identified and reported, and that victims receive proper support.
Similar events are therefore planned for later in the year at Linthipe and Mpando Secondary Schools.
