The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently published the story of Mama Elizabeth, a 65-year-old Sudanese refugee who is among the volunteer “guardian angels” who have opened their homes in the four refugee camps in South Sudan’s Maban County to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Femicide and gender-based violence should not be normalised and there has to be deliberate action by all to end violence against women. More and more men are taking up the call to make the societal changes we need to curb this crisis. This includes ally and toxic masculinity denouncer Kabelo Chabalala, the founder of the Young Men Movement in South Africa.
Not for the first time, Kenya is discussing the possibility of amending the Sexual Offences Act to lower the age of consent from 18 to 16 years. The discussion is highlighting the issue of predatory exposure and the responsibility of society in safeguarding the rights of children.
Cameroonian women’s rights activist Aïssa Doumara Ngatansou was awarded the Simone Veil International Prize for her commendable efforts in promoting the rights of Cameroonian women.
“Sexual cleansing” is a common harmful practice in several African countries where a woman is expected to have sex after her first period, after becoming widowed, or after an abortion, as a cleansing ritual. In Malawi, girls are forced to have sex with a paid sex worker, known as a “hyena”, once they reach puberty.
Since 2012, three Husband Schools in Sierra Leone have taken on the struggle against domestic violence by teaching men about women’s health, gender issues and how to be a better husband. Pidia Joseph Allieu is one of the men leading these classes for men in rural Sierra Leone.
The recent evidence of a violent relationship between two well-known South African musicians should be a wake-up call to us as a society to revisit what we consider to be “healthy masculinity”, says Lineo Segoete.
A community-based organisation has installed Talking Boxes at primary schools in Africa’s largest informal settlement, Kibera, in Kenya, to encourage schoolgirls to speak out about their problems.
Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio is fighting to end the culture of “indifference” and impunity surrounding rape and sexual violence by declaring it a national emergency. This will provide support to the First Lady’s “Hands off our girls” protection project.
For the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, Nana Akosua Hanson argues that the problem of sexual harassment in schools is rooted in patriarchy and that there is an urgent need for a complete overhaul of how we educate our children on matters of sex and relationships.
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