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Within the second of a two-part collection from Uganda, Timothy Mbene Masereka spoke to the UN Inhabitants Fund (UNFPA) forward of the 16 Days of Activism towards Gender-Based mostly Violence, marked yearly from 25 November to 10 December, Human Rights Day.
As a village well being employee, Mr. Masereka goes from home to accommodate in a few of the remotest areas in Kasese district in western Uganda.
He enjoys serving to individuals and is adept at managing sicknesses reminiscent of malaria and pneumonia. Nonetheless, there was one well being emergency that he didn’t know the right way to handle: violence towards girls and ladies.
“Throughout my classes [in people’s homes], I noticed that gender-based violence was an issue, and I attempted to deal with it at a decrease degree, utilizing my very own reasoning, however I lacked the abilities to actually resolve the difficulty,” he mentioned.
What Mr. Masereka noticed wasn’t uncommon – violence towards girls and ladies is the world’s most pervasive human rights violation, affecting one in three girls globally. In Uganda, nearly 30 per cent of girls and ladies reported experiencing intimate associate violence up to now 12 months.
Regardless of its prevalence, Mr. Masereka mentioned violence towards girls and ladies was handled as a personal difficulty.
“In my neighborhood, males dominated, and gender-based violence wasn’t mentioned brazenly,” he defined.
![Men and boys have a critical role to play in reducing violence against women. Men and boys have a critical role to play in reducing violence against women.](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Production%20Library/25-11-2022_UN_Women_Uganda_Male_Champion_Vendors.jpg/image1170x530cropped.jpg)
UN Girls/Eva Sibanda
Males and boys have a important function to play in lowering violence towards girls.
Change begins at dwelling
When Mr. Masereka was approached to finish gender-based violence coaching supported by the Highlight Initiative via the UN sexual and reproductive well being company, UNFPA, he jumped on the alternative.
“The neighborhood growth officer talked to me in regards to the Highlight Initiative and its work on stopping violence towards girls and ladies,” he mentioned. “She mentioned males have an enormous function to play in stopping violence and requested whether or not I wished to work as male motion group mentor.”
He then attended a coaching run by ACORD, a nationwide non-governmental group that promotes social justice. In the course of the course, he discovered the right way to speak to males and boys about gender-based violence, the right way to counsel {couples} to resolve disputes via dialogue and the right way to establish and refer girls and ladies experiencing violence to the suitable authorities and providers.
The coaching additionally opened his eyes to subtler types of violence, reminiscent of financial violence and unequal gender energy dynamics.
“For instance, the ladies plant [crops], however they got no say in what occurs to the crops; the boys made [all] the selections,” he defined.
Bettering energy dynamics
The course pressured him to look at the distribution of energy and labour in his personal family.
“I discovered that chores within the dwelling could be carried out by each women and men,” he mentioned. “The pounding and cooking of meals and bathing the youngsters are all duties that may be accomplished by each the mom and the daddy.”
When he first started to tackle home chores, he mentioned individuals laughed at him: “They might say ‘He has been put down by his spouse,’ issues like that.” However once they noticed how way more productive his home turned, their attitudes modified.
“You get issues accomplished sooner,” he mentioned. “For instance, if my spouse is making ready meals, I can wash the dishes. If my spouse is gathering firewood, I can get water. [This way,] all of us eat earlier.”
Mr. Masereka mentioned this shift has improved his relationship along with his spouse and youngsters.
“I really feel blissful as a result of now the youngsters can inform me something, my spouse doesn’t conceal something – she could be very clear and clear, as I’m together with her,” he mentioned.
![SDG 5 SDG 5](https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/Libraries/Graphics%20Library/27-02-2020-SDG-Goal-5-logo.jpg/image1024x768.jpg)
United Nations
SDG 5
SDG 5: EMPOWER ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS
- Finish all types of discrimination and violence towards girls and ladies
- Eradicate such dangerous practices as early and compelled marriages and feminine genital mutilation
- Adapt and strengthen laws to advertise gender equality and empower girls and ladies
- Guarantee girls’s full and efficient participation and equal alternatives for management in political, financial and public life
- Guarantee common entry to sexual and reproductive well being care
Globally, nearly half of all married girls presently lack decision-making energy over their sexual and reproductive well being and rights.
Shifting attitudes and supporting survivors
The Highlight Initiative goals to get rid of violence towards girls and ladies via complete programming that addresses all key drivers of violence. It promotes legal guidelines and insurance policies that forestall violence, strengthens establishments, promotes gender-equitable social norms, strengthens girls’s actions and gives important providers to survivors of violence.
Since 2019, greater than 1,500 males in Uganda have skilled as optimistic male function fashions with the help of Highlight Initiative via UNFPA. Every of them performs a important function in altering the norms and attitudes that result in violence and supporting survivors to entry the providers they want.
Mr. Masereka raises consciousness of the difficulty by distributing info at church and neighborhood features, conducts dwelling visits to assist {couples} resolve points and leads discussions about violence amongst males and boys on the male motion teams he visits.
He additionally follows up on ladies who drop out of college and little one marriage circumstances. He additionally helps survivors of violence to entry well being and justice providers. This consists of escorting girls and ladies to the police and native council places of work to report violence.
To him, participating males and boys is a important step in eliminating violence.
“Most perpetrators of gender-based violence are males,” he mentioned bluntly. “Males and boys could be a part of the answer. They will use their energy to vary the neighborhood for the higher.”
- The worldwide Highlight Initiative to get rid of violence towards girls and ladies is a United Nations joint effort with the European Union and different companions.
- In Uganda, it’s applied by the Authorities of Uganda, the European Union, UN Girls, UN entities for reproductive well being (UNFPA), youngsters (UNICEF), growth (UNDP) and refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with UN businesses for human rights (OHCHR) and migration (IOM), the UN Pulse Lab in Uganda and civil society.
- Since 2019, the Highlight Initiative has supported nearly a million girls and ladies in Uganda to entry important providers.
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