Vodacom’s ‘Be The Light’ campaign calls on men to stand up against abuse and femicide

Vodacom’s Be The Light campaign will “appeal to South African men to become change agents and play an active role in ridding our society of gender-based violence.”

The rise of gender-based violence in South Africa

South Africa’s lockdown has put gender-based violence in the spotlight as the country comes to grips with the effects of a global pandemic.

The continuing reality of senseless violence against women and children has compelled the president addressing gender-based violence on more than one occasion during the lockdown.

The latest Gender-Based Violence research estimates that one in four women will experience violence perpetrated by a man. In addition to this, in a country with an unacceptable murder rate, women are five times more likely to be killed.

Takalani Netshitenzhe, Chief Officer: Corporate Affairs, at Vodacom explains:

“The truth of the matter is that, in recent times, we have seen more and more cases of women dying in the hands of men in the country, so it is about time we shifted the conversation on gender violence to men, so they can be part of the solution.”

What is Vodacom’s ‘Be The Light’ campaign?

The ”Be the light” campaign looks to focus on South African men. The campaign highlights the role that men need to play in eliminating gender-based violence from society.

Netshitenzhe says that, in his view, “gender-based violence requires men to stand up, call out, and address the violent and aggressive behaviour that we see many women face every day”. He adds:

“For this to happen, men need to be the champions in the fight against women abuse and femicide, while shining a light on those perpetrators who continue to abuse women and children without fear or consequence.”

Men need to start identifying abusers in their midst and taking action if any progress is to be made in the fight against gender-based violence.

It’s no longer enough for men to not be violent; they need to start policing their social circle, calling out unacceptable behaviour and contributing toward making their spaces safe.

Vodacom’s part in fighting GBV

The ”Be the light” campaign is Vodacom’s latest initiative to assist the government in the fight against gender-based violence. In 2014 Vodacom set up a gender-based violence command centre.

The command centre receives an average of 2 200 calls a month and aims to give victims of violence access to tele-counselling and assistance from social services. Last year, the command centre received 87 092 calls with 1 846 related to gender-based violence.

If there was any doubt about the fact that the lockdown exacerbated the problem, the fact that there have already been 2079 calls relating to gender-based violence in the last six months.

When factoring in the reality of under-reporting in cases of gender-based violence, these numbers are genuinely heartbreaking.

How to get assistance

Anyone in need of assistance can contact the centre:

• By dialling 0800 428 428
• Via the USSD option on *120*7867#
• A Skype line ”HelpMeGBV” for members of the Deaf Community
• An SMS-based line: 31531

“We are hoping that this campaign will challenge local men to reflect on this question of gender violence and lead them to initiate serious conversations among their circles on what they can do to prevent abuse of this type from occurring in the first place,” concluded Netshitenzhe.

Also read — SABC 2’s ‘7de Laan’ raises awareness of gender-based violence