Introduction
As nations grapple with Gender-based violence (GBV), it is high time that we explore the power of male compassion by cultivating courage and wisdom in men in order to heal the male who seems to be disconnected from the story or trajectory of the fight against gender-based violence in Zimbabwean societies and Africa as a whole. It is high time that development agencies and government ministries embark on harnessing the power of compassion as a tool to enhance tolerance as well as create healthy discussions in relationships. This will then transform the male into a control entity that is able to solve or approach problems in families and relationships through sober dialogue. The use of compassion as a tool kit on its own has the greatest potential and power to transform individuals through anger management from as early as puberty stage until they become boys to men. This will in the end be more effective in building rational, resilient and open-minded individuals or human beings at the point of disagreements in families and relationships.
Role of compassion in reshaping gender-based violence.
It is important to then say gender-based violence can be solved through the use of the transformative power of compassion. This is men’s powerful brilliance to change societal thinking dynamics to end GBV. It is also important to realise that in Zimbabwe and Africa, men have the willpower if harnessed well to purposefully drive and change the broken individual, society, family and community that has the deepest wounds. Therefore tapping into the compassionate side of their emotions can be the best way of dealing with problems or the scourge of GBV. There is a realisation that building emotionally, mature men, powerful men, logical, not defined by physical strength is the best way of approaching the challenges of GBV in Africa. Building men who are capable of taking responsibility for their pain and transforming that pain into strong families and societal institutions will create a healthy country.
The use of compassionate transformation should be able to change internal suffering into care and sympathy. As the world continues to evolve and change, such is the role to play in helping to shape this evolution for the health and well-being of all people. The most effective way to meet the new and changing needs of African societies is to take responsibility for healing the broken man and build a healthy male culture for all kinds of men. It is important to accept that males by nature are bottlers of emotions, as such it is the starting point in approaching GBV issues not with a straight jacket of protecting a woman as a victim.
Modern initiation into manhood
The current approach to initiating boys into manhood is basically both religious, cultural and traditional as such it has failed to change the landscape in terms of yielding results in solving GBV in African states and later alone become the cornerstone of the family institutions. The use of modern initiations into manhood does not, in this case, target boys in transition into family man but rather re-initiating the current men to be able to meet these new existential threats to familyhood and GBV in particular, because they have been trained in prior conservative, cultural, traditional and religious systems that ponder on women’s submissiveness. As such they are not copying leading to too much violence against women as a means of control. These initiations will among other things redefine masculinity and change the male from culturally centricity to a modern man. It will transform males from boyhood to manhood. It should be appreciated that it is not a silver bullet therefore we don’t expect the current man to change overnight but a modern initiation is critical to all generations of men. These can in one way give man the opportunity to open up the darkest parts of their lives. It therefore helps men jump from the cliff of their previous identities. It makes man embrace the new and blend with religion, culture and traditions that are good and competing well with the new. Our current reality for many men is of pain, disconnections and lack of purpose when things go wrong. This reality has a broad impact not only on men but on the workplaces, families and communities they inhabit.
Conclusion
As many men are faced with expectations of male roles, they feel isolated and lonely. They are exposed to a reality where there is no emotional honesty and where vulnerability often turns into anger. All this leads to health problems and sour relationships escalating into GBV. A man needs to be listened to by other men with respect and empathy without being judged or condemned. They learn how to express their emotions, feelings, fears and painful experiences and how to share them with others. They need to learn from boyhood how to control those emotions and shun the use of violence as a means of solving problems. A compassionate tool kit, it will help men in modern-day initiations to work on their identity and self-preservation. It will encourage boys and men to focus on the ability to seek help and advice during difficult times thereby building a system where culture and traditions are subdued into meaningful use in shaping individuals, families, society and community that support each other and ultimately reduce hero-worshipping of GBV as a tool of control.
