Don’t blame all of GBV on alcohol via TheCitizen_News
The recent uptick in cases of gender-based violence cannot solely be attributed to the resumption of the sale of alcohol, but is rather part of an ongoing social problem worsened by the current lockdown. According to gender research expert Prof. Antje Schuhmann from Wits School of Social Sciences, similar lockdowns elsewhere have generated a global spike in violence against women and femicide.
Under the lockdown women found themselves locked up with perpetrators, who were most likely family members, husbands or boyfriends. Moments of privacy to reach out for help were most likely unavailable, and for many women, the state-imposed house arrest made it difficult to escape. “So far we have no data which speak to gender-based violence during the different levels of the lockdown,” Schuhmann said.
As violence against women is often portrayed as so-called “stranger-danger”, the sad reality is that it is much more likely that women become abused by men they know and often love. That’s why men view any expression of emotion as a weakness, they are told that crying is a women’s thing. They were unable to tell what was inside them and they bottled up those emotions to become something that one day would explode.
Schuhmann said “it is of particular importance that the educational system must be reformed in order to empower girls as well as boys who do not perpetuate toxic masculinities. In addition, men in the public and political sphere must be held accountable and not let off the hook when perpetrating disrespect and violence against women or queer people, simply all those, they consider as not equal to them”.
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