GBV: FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE

 Do not allow what has been happening lately to distract you from the fact that women are still dying each day at the hands of the men who claim to love them. Just last month we were celebrating women’s month with the aim of strengthening the fight against gender-based violence, however, that fight seems to be put on hold. So much focus has been diverted, resulting in the fight against GBV losing momentum.

Just this week, a young South African actress by the name of Thandeka Mdeliswa is suspected to have been murdered by her alleged lover and a Limpopo University student is also said to have been murdered by her ‘new’ boyfriend, who committed suicide thereafter. What is more puzzling and flat out irritating is the fact that this supposed boyfriend was out on parole after being arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Sounds familiar? Of course, a few weeks ago a young local woman by the name of Mukelo was stabbed 31 times allegedly by her boyfriend, who also committed suicide after the alleged murder. 

My biggest gripe is that our efforts to stop gender-based violence seem to be in vain. This is because most of these cases end up with the victims being six feet under. 

The men these campaigns are meant for continue to violate their victims unabated. The worst part about all of this is how some of these men are actively involved in campaigns that advocate for women’s rights and are against gender-based violence. 

Died

Not so long ago, a prominent individual was implicated in a gender-based violence case and just recently a local premier league player was also allegedly cited in a GBV case, the list is unfortunately endless. However, these stories have all died a slow and painful death just like the rest. 

There are countless stories of men who have been named and shamed yet walk among us today as though nothing has happened simply because no one ever really takes gender-based violence cases seriously and no one really ever fights for the victims. 

So many women have died simply because no one took action and no one ever really listened or cared enough to help. It is, however, quite common for people to have something to say once the woman has been murdered. There will be a considerable amount of ‘loved ones’ who will claim they knew something was wrong or maybe warned the deceased about their alleged killer. This is all in vain once the person is no longer alive but is simply dust. This leaves you wondering as to how many people are aware of ongoing abuse but fail to report it? 

Win

The current situation makes one wonder if we are ever going to win the fight against gender-based violence. We live among people who are victims of GBV yet we fail to help them but are quick to advocate for justice for someone who lives miles away. Our sisters, mothers and daughters deserve more than what we are affording them. How long will we sit by while they perish? How many headlines will we read before something is actually done? Are we doing enough to fight GBV? 

The unfortunate thing about life is that people are only sensitive to issues once they hit close to home, therefore we will continue to fail in our quest to end gender-based violence simply because we treat it as a non-relatable issue and we are only willing to fight once it happens to someone we know. Does this mean we will only take the GBV fight seriously once all women in the world are killed and there is none left? A part of me wishes we took this fight as seriously as we take the fight against COVID-19, maybe if we advertised stopping GBV as much as we advertise the sale of sanitisers, this article wouldn’t even be necessary.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: