Efforts to combat gender-based violence (GBV) have understandably focused on protecting victims, supporting survivors and bringing perpetrators to justice.
While these remain essential, prevention requires something more: men must speak to other men about respect, accountability, consent and the consequences of GBV.
We welcome the Eastern Cape government’s recent initiative to launch the Men’s Forum in Matatiele.
The forum aims to provide a platform for discussions about masculinity, gender equality and men’s responsibility in preventing violence against women and children.
Enlisting men is not about shifting responsibility away from perpetrators or survivors.
It is about recognising that men have a critical role in changing the culture in which violence is normalised, excused or hidden behind silence.
Programmes that exclude perpetrators are bound to be futile.
GBV is everyone’s business, hence awareness campaigns must reach everywhere.
They must reach schools, workplaces, churches, sports clubs and traditional and community structures, creating spaces where men can confront harmful notions of masculinity and learn that strength is not measured by control or violence.
Collectively men must say “not in our name” in words and actions.
Annually, we commemorate Women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
However, commemorations, just like our laws, risk becoming rituals of comfort rather than catalysts for change.
We gather, we light candles, we remember the victims — but do we confront the deeper truths.
Violence against women is not an aberration; it is sustained by systems of inequality, silence and impunity.
It thrives where accountability is weak and where cultural attitudes excuse or minimise harm.
We must speak up to help break the cycle of harmful practices. But mobilisation must be matched by action.
Communities need accessible support services, effective policing, swift justice and sustained programmes that address the roots of GBV.
A campaign cannot succeed if survivors are encouraged to speak out but find themselves without adequate protection or support.
The Eastern Cape’s call to enlist men is therefore both timely and necessary.
GBV is not a “women’s issue”. It is a societal crisis, and society cannot defeat it while half the population watches from the sidelines.
The real test will be whether men answer the call — not simply with words, but by changing their own behaviour, challenging violence around them and helping build communities where women and children can live without fear.
We hope the forum can be replicated across the province.
The time has arrived for us to draw a line in the sand and say, this far and not beyond. Collectively, we can win the war against GBV.
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