CHANGING ATTITUDES STARTS WITH LEADERS

BY JANICE BIEHN

It is only possible to change entrenched cultural practices when people at all levels of power are engaged in the process. That credo is at the heart of Help Lesotho’s Safer Communities project, funded by PWRDF since 2021.

In Lesotho, the small landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, girls and young women frequently experience gender-based violence (GBV). According to the 2014 Lesotho Gender-Based Violence Indicator Researcher (which is the most recent), 86% of women surveyed have experienced GBV, and 40% of men admit to perpetrating it.

GBV seriously threatens girls’ and women’s wellbeing and ignores their right to safety, health and education. It robs them of the power to make their own decisions. In Lesotho, most survivors do not report violence to police, seek medical attention or get legal help. It is still seen as a private matter, shrouded in a culture of silence and stigmatization. Asking girls, who have almost no power, to stand up for their rights can put them at greater risk if others are unwilling to use their power to support them and make a change.

The Safer Communities project addresses the urgency for local leaders, health providers, police officers, teachers, boys, men, community members and family members – who should be protecting girls and women – to understand and accept their responsibility and duty to support girls’ mental, emotional and physical health. In the past year, 81 community leaders have been trained in how to recognize GBV and support women and girls who are experiencing it.

abortion with the aid of a traditional birth attendant was admitted to the hospital as she was bleeding excessively.”

In response to incidents like this, ARUWE intervened with an education and empowerment program at the school. Students were equipped with knowledge and skills on the reproductive

“We are very grateful to ARUWE for the sexuality training they offered to us because it equipped us with skills of being assertive, resisting peer pressure and prioritizing our education.” system, puberty, body image and sexuality and relationships, assertiveness and self-esteem, coping with emotion, effective communication, problemsolving skills, resisting peer pressure and critical thinking skills. Students were also educated on teen pregnancy, the dangers, and how to prevent it.

ARUWE is a non-profit NGO working with marginalized people, especially women and children, in rural Uganda. Their work focuses on adolescent SRHR, reducing gender-based violence and preventing teenage pregnancies.

Malerato Mahapa is a police officer. At the beginning of the training, she admits to being defensive and negative about ending GBV. Yet one day after the three-day training, a woman who was abused by her husband came to the station in tears. “I responded and assisted the victim of GBV with due diligence, making sure that I did not cause any further harm to the survivor,” she says. “That increased the trust to the survivor, that I will take her case seriously as I treated her with respect and dignity. … She thanked me for the good care I offered to her. I feel proud to have put a smile on someone’s face when they were experiencing a traumatic situation.”

Soai Mohasoang is a local chief in Botha-Bothe district. He said emotional abuse was widely accepted and ignored in his community. But after the training, Mohasoang saw things differently. “I learned that GBV and emotional abuse are silent killers to which community members turned a blind eye. In the village, grandmothers are some of the vulnerable people of which perpetrators take advantage. One of the grannies was badly insulted in front of me. … After participating in the training, I felt a sense of urgency to be a leader … hence, for the first time, I took it upon myself to act as a first witness at Khukhune Local court to offer support and increase safety to a granny who was emotionally abused. With that, the perpetrator was fined M1000.00 [$75 Cdn]. I believe that has been a lesson to others, as I no longer hear insults which used to be a norm around the village.”