- South Africa continues to record high levels of gender-based violence, highlighting the need for stronger prevention alongside law enforcement and survivor support.
- Humanising masculinity requires boys and men to embrace empathy, emotional expression, respect, consent and accountability while challenging harmful social and cultural norms.
- Families, communities, traditional institutions, government and men themselves must work together to prevent violence and promote positive masculinity.
South Africa continues to grapple with gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), despite the range of interventions introduced to combat this scourge. In 2024/25, 203,629 crimes against women were recorded, compared with 202,633 in the previous financial year.
During the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, 50,511 GBVF cases were registered with the South African Police Service, with 30,736 resulting in arrests or referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority. These figures are more than statistics; they represent people whose safety, dignity and lives have been affected, and communities confronting the consequences of violence.
Laws, policies, enforcement measures and support services are essential. Perpetrators must be held accountable, survivors must be supported, and institutions must respond effectively. But these measures cannot, on their own, transform the attitudes, behaviours and social norms that allow violence to persist. A lasting response must therefore ask not only how we act after violence occurs, but how we prevent it by changing what boys and men learn about power, intimacy, conflict and responsibility.
Men must be central to this change. Some are already speaking out against GBVF, supporting survivors and challenging harmful behaviour. Their leadership should be recognised and encouraged. More men, however, must be willing to confront abuse among their peers, speak up when they witness misogyny and coercion, and refuse to treat violence as a private matter in which others should not intervene. Silence and indifference can protect harmful behaviour. Prevention must begin long before a woman or child is harmed.
Humanising masculinity and redefining manhood
This calls for a deeper re-imagining of manhood and masculinity. We need to humanise masculinity by making empathy, tenderness, care and emotional expression part of how boys are taught to become men. These qualities are not foreign to men; they are part of our shared human nature. Yet many boys are socialised to suppress sadness, hide fear, avoid affection and regard vulnerability as weakness.
When dominance is rewarded and emotional expression ridiculed, some may learn to convert pain into anger or insecurity into control. This does not excuse abuse. It underlines why prevention must help boys develop emotional literacy, manage conflict without violence, respect boundaries and take responsibility for their actions.
Positive masculinity is not simply a slogan or a public campaign. It requires transformation of the mind, body and spirit: questioning inherited beliefs about power, practising respect in relationships, and recognising that one person’s dignity cannot be built by diminishing another’s. Boys and men must learn the language of vulnerability, love, affection, consent, accountability and ubuntu. Asking for help is not failure; care is not weakness; and no cultural, religious or personal belief can justify violence against women and children.
Culture, identity and positive masculinity
Culture and identity belong in this conversation. African cultural practices are diverse and should neither be romanticised nor treated as inherently harmful. Spaces associated with ulwaluko, ingoma and koma these are some of traditional male initiation rites of passage can, where communities intentionally make room for it, help shape conversations about maturity, belonging, responsibility and what it means to live well with others.
Traditional leaders, elders, families and cultural practitioners can connect these teachings to everyday conduct: how a man speaks to his partner, raises a child, responds to rejection, resolves conflict and treats people whose power or status differs from his own.
The point is not to suggest that culture alone will end GBVF, or that every cultural practice automatically produces positive masculinity. Rather, cultural knowledge and practice can be engaged critically and constructively.
Values of isintu and ubuntu can help affirm that manhood is not measured by control, intimidation or sexual entitlement, but by integrity, compassion, respect and accountability. Cultural spaces should be places where harmful norms can be challenged as well as where identity and belonging are nurtured. The measure of these values is how they are lived in the ordinary relationships and choices of everyday life.
The responsibility of families and communities
This responsibility begins in homes and extends to churches, schools, workplaces, sporting structures, traditional councils, restaurants and public spaces. Fathers, guardians, uncles, brothers, coaches, teachers and other male role models must show boys that strength includes listening, apologising, comforting, sharing responsibility and accepting boundaries.
Men must challenge sexist jokes, coercive behaviour and abuse among their peers rather than protect friendships at the expense of women’s safety. Those who witness abuse should act safely, support those affected and seek appropriate help. The responsibility for preventing violence must never be shifted onto women to manage men’s behaviour.
It is this spirit of active citizenship that underpins calls, including that of #NotInMyName International, for men to take a more active role in confronting GBVF. Government has supported initiatives to engage men and boys and promote positive masculinity, including Under-the-Tree Dialogues for Men and Boys, the national Men’s Pledge and the Positive Masculinity Initiative.
Platforms such as schools, sporting structures, workplaces, traditional councils and digital spaces can help make non-violent models of masculinity visible and practical. These efforts should be sustained, responsive to local contexts and assessed by their impact on attitudes and behaviour, not only by the number of dialogues convened.
Strengthening government interventions and accountability
The national Programme of Action on GBVF recognises the importance of engaging men and boys in prevention. The National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide also has a critical role in strengthening coordination across the national response. These efforts must work alongside effective law enforcement and survivor-centred services.
In 2025/26, the National Prosecuting Authority reportedly secured 3,794 convictions from 5,141 sexual-offence cases finalised, a 74% conviction rate. Life-imprisonment sentences increased from 293 to 360, while 1,400 severe custodial outcomes were recorded for GBV perpetrators. In Limpopo, more than 1,600 domestic-violence cases were reportedly finalised within 100 days, reducing the backlog by 86%. Such outcomes can demonstrate the value of focused interventions and institutional accountability, but they must not create complacency.
The national case-recovery operation focused on unresolved murders, attempted murders, rape and other serious sexual offences involving women and children is also important. Cases that have stalled must be reviewed, investigative gaps addressed, and coordination between investigators and prosecutors strengthened.
Survivors and families deserve a justice system that does not allow cases to disappear into administrative backlogs or remain unresolved for years. Sexual Offences Courts, Thuthuzela Care Centres, shelter services, timely forensic evidence processing and accessible counselling and legal support remain vital components of a comprehensive response.
Men as partners in preventing violence
Men should not be understood only in relation to perpetration. They are also fathers, sons, partners, colleagues, neighbours and allies with the capacity to influence one another. Inviting men into prevention is not a way of excusing them from accountability; it is a demand that they take responsibility for changing the environments and norms in which violence takes root. Programmes must therefore combine cultural and community engagement with clear standards, survivor-centred practice, institutional accountability and consequences for abuse.
Ultimately, we must teach boys not only what kind of man to become, but what kind of human being to be. A safer society will be built when strength is measured by the ability to care rather than control; when vulnerability is met with support rather than ridicule; and when ubuntu is reflected in everyday relationships. Positive masculinity calls for the transformation of the mind, body and spirit, so that respect, empathy and non-violence become ordinary practices rather than occasional campaign messages.
Women and children should be safe in their homes, relationships, workplaces, communities and public spaces. Violence is neither inevitable nor acceptable. Ending GBVF requires a whole-of-society response, supported by accessible services such as the 24-hour GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428. Men must be part of the solution—not as saviours and not as spectators, but as accountable human beings prepared to challenge harm, nurture care and help build communities where violence is neither normalised nor tolerated.
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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Conviction.co.za
