Changing male attitudes towards women in Botswana :: Mmegi Online

OTSE: “We are learning to be better men and to be better parents,” said Olepolotse Othuseng, a young man who grew up without a father present. After completing a UNFPA-supported programme sensitising men and boys on gender equality, he wants to be the change he had hoped for as a boy growing up.

In Botswana, only two out of five men have been raised in families with fathers. The Botswana GBV Indicators Study of 2012 shows that one of the main factors reinforcing the prevalence of gender-based violence is patriarchy, a system that gives men power over women.

Olepolotse is among many in the country who had absent fathers. His dad abused alcohol and left his mother. Now Olepolotse, who is the father of a two-month-old baby, ranks among those who want to be part of a family. This change in attitude is due to the MenCare programme, which is helping to change minds about the value of women and what it means to be a man.

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Changing male attitudes towards women in Botswana

OTSE: “We are learning to be better men and to be better parents,” said Olepolotse Othuseng, a young man who grew up without a father present. After completing a UNFPA-supported programme sensitising men and boys on gender equality, he wants to be the change he had hoped for as a boy growing up.

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