Screening on Masculinity and Gender-Based Violence in a High School in Khayelitsha, in partnership with COSAS Western Cape
On Friday the 10th of June 2016, SALO screened a DVD of an interview in which several South African teenage boys living in townships discussed issues around societal pressures and conditioning related to internalized perceptions of masculinity, including candid discussions as to why some of the youth interviewed regularly beat their girlfriends.
The screening elicited a robust discussion amongst the pupils, around the prevalence of gender based violence in their school and community. The students explored various unhealthy expectations and perceptions of ‘masculinity’ prevalent within their community, and postulated on how they could assist in changing these unhealthy expectations.
The discussion was chaired by a young member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), living within the community.