Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has challenged the Men\u2019s Sector to be central in spreading the message of equality between women and men, girls and boys at a very tender age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a message that shuns the culture of male dominance and sexual violence, the culture that enables leaders from all walks of life to shamelessly prey on young girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the collective voice of men, boys and other youth formations across all sectors of society to fully address the ongoing war on women and children,\u201d Zulu said.<\/p>\n
Zulu was speaking at the National Men\u2019s Parliament held in Parliament, Cape Town, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The two-day Men\u2019s Parliament, which is convened under the banner of the Takuwani Riime Men\u2019s Movement, seeks to find practical solutions to the challenges we have as a nation.<\/p>\n
The Men’s Parliament on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) is endorsed by the Department of Social Development, in partnership with the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) and the Men\u2019s Sector. It is held under the theme \u201cInstitutionalising a Responsive Men\u2019s Movement\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said that the call for the partnership with the Men\u2019s Parliament by government is premised on the understanding that government alone cannot address the developmental challenges South Africa faces.<\/p>\n
The Minister also reiterated that men and boys have a very important role in building a South Africa, as envisioned in the National Development Plan (Vision 2030). <\/p>\n
\u201cCentral in this partnership is the joint commitment to pursue matters of national interest such as fostering constitutional values, promoting reconciliation, nation building and social cohesion. <\/p>\n
\u201cKey amongst others is that the leadership from both government and Men\u2019s Sector should intensify their commitment of promoting families as the pillar of strength in society, promote healthy living and healthy lifestyles among young people, and combating the scourge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in South Africa,\u201d Zulu said.<\/p>\n
Joining forces to eradicate COVID-19, GBV For us to have an equal society free from violence, Nkoana-Mashabane said we need every South African to play their part, especially men who have been beneficiaries of power and privilege.<\/p>\n \u201cMen\u2019s Parliaments and dialogues are important, but they should also be a space for action where we can proudly tell the country that, a year ago we met and have set targets to change this toxic notions of masculinity and those that have walked this journey with you have changed their behaviour and are now mentoring the others.\u201d<\/p>\n To achieve peace and security for everyone, the Minister added that, homes and communities must be free of any form of violence and abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must take total control of our communities and make them safe havens for all its inhabitants.\u201d<\/p>\n Societal response needed to succeed in GBV fight<\/strong><\/p>\n Police Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale said the fight against GBV is a societal fight, and \u201cwe need societal response to succeed in this fight\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cChallenges of GBV are a reflection of a situation within which we find ourselves as a country, and until we deal with the economic power relations, this problem will persistently be with us. The resolution of the economic power relations in the country will contribute immensely to the defeat of GBV.\u201d<\/p>\n Mathale also stressed a need for all police stations to have dedicated desks to assist women when coming to the stations to report GBV cases.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that when someone has been the victim of such crime, they must not be exposed to secondary violence they\u2019ve accounted at home. They should be treated with respect and their cases be handled with confidentiality,\u201d the Deputy Minister said. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has challenged the Men\u2019s Sector to be central in spreading the message of equality between women and men, girls and boys at a very tender age. \u201cThis is a message that shuns the culture of male dominance and sexual violence, the culture that enables leaders from all walks of life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-172695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-sanews","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong>\u201cSouth Africans are all ready to handle the bull by its horns by joining forces with all, as we endeavour to eradicate COVID-19 and all other challenges facing the country, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), once and for all,\u201d said Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.<\/p>\n