South Africa: Renouncing Violence

Combating gender-based violence - because self-confident women and strong men don't need violence

In South Africa, every three hours a woman is killed. More than half of them are killed by their partner - five times more than the global average. Tshepanang ("Trust each other" - an initiative of various churches in the North West Province in South Africa) is committed to prevention work among young people. To this end, young unemployed people are trained to teach in schools in grades 6-9. In 2022 for example, more than 50 of them provided 12 new teaching units on gender-based violence at 25 schools to raise awareness and protect those affected.

The basic questions of the teaching units are

• Why do men do it?
• and: Why do women put up with it?

Mostly based on stories, the lessons demonstrate the underlying causes of gender-based violence. Unemployment in South Africa is over 30 per cent and even twice as high among young people. Because they have no income, men are unable to fulfil their role as providers for the family. Their frustration at their powerlessness often manifests itself in violence against their partners.

Please make a donation to help break the silence and teach young people ways out of violence and towards mutual trust! Thank you.