Let them go, don’t hurt them

 broken relationship. I have known these types who will shower insults on a man for leaving them or is in the course of leaving. They make his life a living nightmare and even swear that if he leaves them, then nobody will have them. They will stalk, embarrass and even engage in fights with the other woman. Some have even attempted to kill him or even burn his clothes.

Then, there are men who just love to be felt when they are breadwinners. They decide not to buy groceries as a means of acquiring respect or instruct that certain parts of the chicken must be for them only. They decide not to dress the woman modernly and shower insults on her for being uneducated, compare her to other women and even remind her of who she was before he ‘picked’ her up and made her into what she is. There are many who will batter their spouse for the smallest of issues and sleep out because the house is untidy. Even when she attempts to leave, he stalks her or even attempt to kill her for choosing someone else.

Then, take that step-child who gets chastised for no apparent reason. He/she does not have the same freedoms the other children have and they are perpetually on their feet doing chores because the step-parent wants to punish them. Some go to the extent of inflicting injuries or even killing step children for the simple reason that they don’t belong to them.

Let them go, don’t hurt them. Love is never forced. It cannot stay or be sustained because we have decided to be mean. Send those children away if they disgust you. Just don’t hurt or kill them.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) was launched on Wednesday with our localised theme: ‘Unite to End GBV: Prevent, Report, Respond, Fund!’ The 2020 global theme is: ‘Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!’ The campaign will run until December 10. Let these days not just be the usual, but should carry weight with everyone playing their part. Having begun in 1991, the international day for the elimination of violence against women should be more than just an event. Let us endeavour to end all forms of violence against men, women and children.