07/06/2024
My colleagues, Lara Rust, Chantele Taljaard, and I have created a preventative Gender Based Violence (GBV) programme targeted at adolescent boys to empower and encourage them to take action individually and within their communities to change the narrative in our society and stop violence against women and children. Whilst there are many programmes available that are focused on empowering women and girls, our aim is to build a positive foundation with the young men of South Africa.
Before qualifying as a Registered Counsellor, I was a volunteer counsellor at R**e Crisis Cape Town Trust, working with survivors of GBV. This life-changing and life-giving work often left me wondering: "What is being done at grassroots level? How are young men being mentored and challenged to resist and fight against what seems to be a societal norm in our country?" And this is where we believe our programme fits in.
It has been an absolute honor working alongside my fellow colleagues in creating such a programme. At the end of April 2024, we were blessed to have had an opportunity to implement a trial run of our programme with a group of boys at the Durbanville Children's home.
We are excited and look forward to seeing how we are able to take this further, praying that the right doors will be opened for us, for this programme and most importantly that we are able to make a contribution towards eradicating the scourge of GBV in South Africa.
