A new ground-breaking national programme has been launched which will see boys of South Africa mentored and uplifted with the aim of reducing gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
A first-of-its-kind national preventative GBV programme called “What About the Boys?” was launched by Primestars at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Thursday.
During the launch, director of HR at the JSE Palesa Ntoagae said the programme aims to not only redefine masculinity in young boys but to also teach them how to embody a healthy and responsible definition of masculinity.
Managing director of Primestars Martin Sweet said South Africans have a responsibility to take action with GBV prevention, starting with boys to address the problem at its root.
“Boys need to learn to distinguish between the positive and negative traits of masculinity so that they can be empowered to become good men but the effects of traditionally defined masculinity and the societal expectations it places presents itself in how we raise boys differently from girls,” Sweet said.
He added that human beings live in a culture that teaches boys stoicism over authenticity, dominance over empathy, aggression over assertiveness and that if they don’t follow the script, someone will notice and take their “man card” away and not seek help.
“We are puzzled when boys act terribly, failing to realise this is exactly the bar we set for them,” Sweet said.
The managing director said the What About the Boys? initiative proposes a liberating paradigm shift, teaching boys how to inhabit masculinity responsibility. He added that the programme is designed to engage boys to share emotions in healthy ways, accept and connect with others, stand up and speak out against bullying and inequality and break free from rigid stereotypes.
The Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said she hoped that the initiative would bring the country one step closer to the governmen’'s efforts to engage men and boys and put an end to GBV.
Former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, during the keynote address, said that reaching out to boys at a young age is important.
“Boys spend most of their lives and time in school so school and teachers are very important to us because they can give the right or wrong messages. In some cases, some of the prejudices we are fighting against are learnt at school,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
She added that when thinking about what boys will become when they grow up, the workplace needs to be looked at in terms of what they can offer men.
“We need to make sure that we have policies at our workplaces that allow fathers to father. A father must not be embarrassed to say ‘I’m sorry, I can’t attend this meeting. I’m going to a soccer match with my boys or going shopping with my girl’,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
She added that the initiative asks society what they are going to do to create good employers, fathers, citizens, brothers and partners.
“When we start with boys at a young age and conscientise them about equality, that everyone must be respected, that GBV is unacceptable, we are preparing them to be good employers, good fathers, good citizens, good brothers and to be those men we are proud of in society,” she said.
@Chulu_M