Dear Editor

It sickens me to read nearly every week another report of a woman injured or killed by her husband or partner.

I applaud MEN in their stand against domestic violence and their efforts at attempting to tackle the problem. However, they cannot do it on their own, and government up until now appears to have been publicly, at least, woefully disinterested in the issue. MEN’s chairman Rev Kwame Gilbert is on track when he says,  “…there is a crucial need to arrest and change the culture of abuse.”

There is a crucial need also for education alongside legislation, and that means education for all citizens, regardless of age or gender. In their everyday lives among their own families and in public, men and boys, women and girls display an increasing lack of respect for themselves and for each other. A world that tells a woman she has nothing to say and to keep her mouth shut, is not in balance, and a world that shows no value and  respect for the family leadership and authority of its men (in a loving rather than domineering way) is also not in balance.

What does it really mean to be a man and what does it really mean to be a woman? Imported soap operas, cheap books and magazines cannot teach us.

All political parties, religious leaders and organisations like MEN have a role to play in this education alongside legislation. However, the government needs to embark on a campaign to send out strong and long overdue messages backed by the law, that domestic violence and abuse perpetrated by men or women is simply not acceptable in any culture or society.

Yours faithfully,
M Morgan