By Professor Motsamai Molefe<\/p>\n
South Africa continues to face a devastating reality. Women and children are subjected to violence every day, leaving deep scars on families, communities, and the moral fabric of our society. These are not just statistics. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and neighbours whose lives have been torn apart by a violence that has become far too familiar.<\/p>\n
We cannot rely on the law alone to solve this crisis. Gender-based violence is not just a legal problem. It is a moral one. At its core, it reflects a failure of empathy, respect, and humanity. It shows a society that has strayed from Ubuntu, the understanding that \u201cI am because we are.\u201d When someone suffers, we all suffer.<\/p>\n
Ubuntu teaches us that our humanity is shared. When one life is violated, the moral fabric of the whole community is weakened. To rebuild that fabric, we must confront gender-based violence not only through policies and policing but through education, dialogue, and moral courage.<\/p>\n
My new book, Understanding and Combating Gender-Based Violence: A Call to Ubuntu and Action, is born from this belief. It is both a reflection and a call to action. It challenges all of us, men and women alike, to step up, take responsibility, and create communities where respect, equality, and compassion guide our interactions.<\/p>\n
The book will be launched on 22 November 2025, just ahead of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. The launch is more than a book event. It is a national conversation, bringing together government, business, civil society, and community leaders to think, speak, and act differently.<\/p>\n
Ending gender-based violence means moving beyond outrage. It means teaching boys and men that real strength is responsibility, not domination. It means reminding communities that silence is complicity. It means leaders showing, not just telling, what respect and care for others look like in practice.<\/p>\n
This is a moment for moral clarity. It is a moment for courage. South Africans have faced daunting challenges before, and we have risen to them. We can do the same now, together, for our women, our children, and the soul of our nation.<\/p>\n
When we heal women, we heal families. When we restore dignity, we restore our society. When we act with Ubuntu, we remind ourselves what it truly means to be human.<\/p>\n
About the Author<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Professor Motsamai Molefe is a philosopher at the University of South Africa and Director of Motsamai Molefe Consulting. His book, “Understanding\u00a0and Combating Gender-Based Violence: A Call to Ubuntu and Action,\u201d will\u00a0be launched on 22 November 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Professor Motsamai Molefe South Africa continues to face a devastating reality. Women and children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":660,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecmessenger.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}