THE day Susan Sithole died, abuse activists, counsellors and government officials met in Cape Town at a national conference organised by the Department of Welfare under the banner “Women in Africa won’t be beaten — unite to end violence”.
Catholic Welfare Development counsellor Charles Maisel challenged participants to extend their services to the perpetrators of abuse as well as the victims. “In Cape Town alone, 5 000 interdicts were granted against men in one year.
“They can’t only be punished, these men need to be rehabilitated and domestic violence needs to be put on the agendas of men as well,” Maisel said.
“By marginalising these men, we are not stopping the violence. We can’t continue to deal with victims and survivors only.”
Joan van Niekerk, of Childline, admitted that counsellors were blinkered. “The feelings of our clients have been transposed on us. We have to develop different attitudes to men as helping professionals.”
In the discussion that followed, some counsellors and activists admitted that their programmes should be extended to reach men as well, not only when they committed acts of violence, but in preventative programmes as