As the country joins the rest of the world in commemorating the 16 days of activism against gender based violence, the government has been urged to shine the light on male cases of domestic violence as they do exist.
With women and girls largely affected by domestic violence cases, involving male victims are often side-lined with much need for awareness around the issue as gender based violence takes different forms.
“There are also women who abuse their husbands but the reasons why men do not report is that they are ashamed of reporting that they are being abused by the wives. You will find that the man behaves like a fool because he will have to be subservient to the woman.
Let us give people sufficient knowledge about the ills of domestic violence. What it means and what it is all about is that they should be encouraged to go and lay charges when such incidences visits them, be they men, women or children. When a case is reported, it is done in such a way that parties can reconcile,” says
Societal and cultural norms have hindered most men from speaking out against gender based violence through fear of being ridiculed and labelled not man enough.
Echoing similar sentiments Zaka North legislator Robson Mavenyengwa added that gender based violence was not only targeted at women and girls, but even targets the boys who have experienced violence in the home affecting their lives and exposing them to drug abuse and street life and crime.
Beyond the 16 days deliberate effort needs to be put in place to ensure awareness rising on male GBV and debunk the notion that men are not vulnerable to abuse thereby encouraging critical conversations on how to totally eliminate all forms of violence
