Johannesburg - “One to One Africa calls on all good men of action to rise above the narrow view of communities that still harm the mothers and daughters that raise us. No longer should we be telling our daughters to be careful. We should be raising our sons to be accountable.”
The One to One Africa campaign shares this as South Africa is a few hours away from activating the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign.
With one of the highest rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in the world, many women and children live in constant fear for their lives.
Rallying behind the campaign are popular personalities such as author Asanda Njobeni; actor, comedian and activist Siv Ngesi; actors Hlomla Dandala and Micah Stojakovic; and personality Mpho Popps Modikoane.
According to Statistics SA, the South African femicide rate is five times higher than global averages, while the Africa Health Organisation reveals that violence in South African women’s lives is ranked as a higher risk than smoking, obesity or high blood pressure as a contributor to death, disability and illness.
“Women alone cannot stop the violence against them, which is why we at One to One Africa believe it is important that we now engage men and boys to end gender-based violence,” said One to One Africa executive director Gqibelo Dandala.
She added that men need to be involved in fighting the alarming statistics.
“A study in 2010 in Gauteng reported 76% of men having admitted to being perpetrators of gender-based violence at some point in their lives.
“A massive part of reducing these statistics is getting men involved in driving the solutions to gender-based violence.
“According to SAPS crime stats for 2019–2020, 53 293 sexual offences were reported, the majority of which were rapes, which means there were an average of 146 cases a day.
“During this same time, 2 695 women were murdered in South Africa, which means every three hours a woman is murdered in our country.
“The scariest part is that this number increases every year; it is getting worse. Now is the time for men to stand up and stand together to make a real change!” Dandala said.
The Star