WUSA Africa music fest balances GBV narrative
Katlego Isaacs | Sunday March 13, 2022 06:00
Founder of WUSA Clothing, Taggie WUSA along with various local talents have come together to champion the ‘WUSA Africa Stop GBV Campaign’ by educating the youth across Botswana on the dynamics of GBV and that it is not exclusive to a single gender. The campaign is slated to gear up for the WUSA Africa Music Festival to be held at Animax-Park in Oodi on April 30, at which talents such as Charma Gal, Maatla Ephraim Basha, and Figos are among many local artists lined up to perform to capture the youth’s attention.
The organisation ensured that it balanced the awareness campaign by educating the youth that males are not immune to GBV and they should be open to reporting when GBV happens to them or the people they know. Speaking at a WUSA Africa Music Festival press conference, head of youth development at Botswana Police XI, Goaletsa Ithuteng, expressed concern that people often think of GBV as being an issue that affects women and children only thereby neglecting men who are also affected by the problem. Ithuteng said: “We often neglect GBV against men and ignore the feelings of men who have been affected by GBV.” “Police statistics show that 44% of men have experienced Gender-Based Violence.
That’s a big number, don't underestimate that,” he added. Motivational speaker and member of the WUSA campaign team, Mosa Ramopedi, explained that the reason these statistics are high is because men are abused and keep their abuse silent which creates a generational cycle. “The problem is young men are growing up and they’re being abused, and they’re being told to keep quiet,” Ramopedi stated. “Men, whenever you feel pain, speak out and say something. To anyone who can listen, speak out and don’t bottle things in.
Remember; hurt people, hurt people.” she advised. Comedian Maatla Basha, informed the audience that he traveled with the organisation to 10 different schools in the country making children aware they can actually report when they spot GBV in their household regardless of who is being attacked or why. “We went to children to tell them what Gender-Based-Violence is, what can you do to stop it, where can you go to report it, and we would have gone to more schools to spread our message if our budget had allowed,” Basha stated. Basha added that people that wish to support the stop GBV campaign can buy tickets at P200 as entrance fee for the Wusa Africa Music Festival.
He noted that all ticket purchases come with a free stop GBV t-shirt from Wusa clothing. “You’re coming to the event for free because the t-shirt from WUSA is worth P200 by itself, so just come support and get your hands on quality clothing," stressed a jubilant Maatla. To support the campaign, Charma Gal announced that she will be the leading act during the WUSA Africa Music Festival. She said that while the festival will be focused on addressing the issue of GBV, people are advised to come and enjoy themselves. “Your support spreads our awareness, so come and enjoy yourselves on the 30th at Animax Park in Oodi/Matebeleng. Let’s all have fun and enjoy the music at the festival.” Charma Gal stated.
Organisation founder, WUSA, asked for support from Batswana. “All we ask is for your support. We did this campaign with only five people and money from our pockets, but this country is big. We want our message to spread across the country but we can’t spread our message without your support,” pleaded Wusa. Kgosi of Oodi/Matebeleng, Tuelo Nkgaiwa, offered his blessings for the festival hoping that people come and show their support stating: “I hope to see everyone packed in Animax on the 30th.”