Limpopo GBV tour actively against gender-based violence

By Tlotliso May

South African men are on a killing spree. In the past ten years or so homosexual people were brutally attacked on the basis of their sexuality, in an effort to “Correct” their identity into one that society accepts. This behaviour was popular enough to even gain a term coined after it, “Corrective rape” which targeted mostly lesbians in which they would get raped because according to the people that did this, there was something wrong with them and it had to be corrected. Currently, it is women who are being targeted by men in South Africa, it is almost impossible for one to watch the news or even browse through social media without coming across news of a woman who was murdered, raped or both in any order. Week in and week out we hear news of how a woman was murdered by her ex-lover or her current lover over a disagreement, it is against this backdrop that Activator Moses Maphanga along with several Activators decided to work tirelessly to establish a campaign against gender based violence. At face value one can just think that gender based violence is just violence against women , but Activator Maphanga and his fellow Activators  also tackled the violence against the LGBTQ community – which having went through the Walk The Line activity was greatly necessary.

There is an undeniable reason that gender based violence must be tackled in the communities where it is rife, and not only through the hashtag #GBVLimpopo.  The conversations about what is going on in our communities should not only be held between Activators.

The GVB roadshow currently underway invites community members and leaders and members of the LGBTQ community to come and give their take and propose solutions towards how gender based violence can best be stopped. The involvement of community members varies from the leadership of community – such as the local councillor and the tribal chief of the Limpopo region.  The police also had presence and they were represented by the CPF.   This event was the first of the many to be held across the province.

The Activators have invited participation from Activators in the province and South Africa as a whole. This invitation comes out of a need for collaboration in order to put an end to the misogyny and homophobia that we see in the  country.

Activator Moses Maphanga used the access that he has with the ACTIVATE! Network to ensure that he partners with other Activators in the province and one such Activator is a 2013 Activator named Motsatsi Mmola . Except this project he is also involved with an Enable Station from which they assist learners by providing them with any academic support and beyond that they help grade 12 learners with applications such that they can be well prepared for the year.

For more information on the tour contact lezerine@localhost

 

 

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