BOSETU marks 16 Days of Activism Against GBV
Correspondent | Wednesday November 29, 2017 17:33
This being that they play a pivotal role in societal values, transmission in everyday instruction and interaction with learners. Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU ) as an organisation that advocates for the welfare of its members and students, stands in solidarity with individuals and organisations that stand to condemn in the strongest terms all acts of GBV.
It is important to note that GBV is violence perpetrated against women on the basis of their inferiority to men. It is any act or threat by men for male dominance that results in physical, sexual and psychological harm to a woman or girl child.
In most cases, cultural norms, traditional beliefs and practices make acts of GBV such as underage marriages legitimate. In our communities, family members are protected after perpetrating rape and sexual abuse of children. Underage girls in different communities in our nation are taken away from school and forced into marriages with much older men and a blind eye is turned when young girls are coerced into sexual relationship with older men because it supposedly benefits the family and girls.
These are but some of the situations educators are faced with on a daily basis. Initiatives such as ‘My-Student, My- Child’ are some that the union uses to combat and empower learners and teachers to respond to incidences of GBV. Women and girls experience incidents of sexual harassment, rape and murder, domestic violence, intimidation at work and are trafficked for prostitution . All these are some examples of GBV. In other countries, they are subject to honour killings, burning or acid attacks, female genital mutilation and dowry-related violence, amongst others.
It is very sad to acknowledge that the majority of perpetrators of GBV are men. This being a result of the primary power inequality between men and women. However, some women may also perpetrate some types of violence against women such as emotional abuse to stamp their power over the other women. Acts of GBV are not only criminal acts, but they violate human rights as conceptualised during the second World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria in 1993, which was followed by the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAN) by the UN General Assembly.
This declaration is currently the main document being used internationally to address the problem of GBV. It identifies the family, the community and the State as the major sites for GBV.
It further assets that violence against women arises from the historic inequalities between men and women, this results in domination of men over women, and leads to gender discrimination.
Gender Based Violence does not only have effects on victims of such violence but also on the society at large as it disturbs the family structure. Families might breakdown resulting in one parent struggling to raise children on their own. It might also lead to children being unable to have lasting and rewarding relationships in the future. They may also grow up knowing that violence is the only way of conflict resolution.
This year’s theme by the United Nations; ‘leave no one behind: end violence against women and girls’ is set against the back drop set by DEVAN as it recommends for states to adopt measures in the field of education to modify the social and cultural pattern of behavior of men and women and to eradicate prejudices, customary practices and other practices based on the idea of the inferiority or superiority of either of the progression stereotyped roles of men and women
(Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women) As educators, we are at the core to seeing these through as we play a pivotal role in molding young people’s attitudes and perceptions about gender, gender stereotypes and even gender based violence. Most of these are learnt through interactions with other students. It is therefore upon us to effect a positive change in our students so as to end violence against women and girls. Let us leave no one behind in our quest to end gender based violence.
CHATAPIWA MABUTHO*