Young people seek solutions to GBV at debate
A debate organised by #YoubeforeMe! in collaboration with The Immaculate Agate Stone Association at Green Meadows Lifestyle Village in Potchefstroom on 10 June attracted many attendants, both in person and online, who discussed solutions to the problem of gender-based violence.
As only a limited number of in-person attendees was admitted due to Covid-19 restrictions, the event was also live-streamed on YouTube and is still available for viewing.
#YoubeforeMe! is a non-profit initiative aimed at reigniting the energy and motivation surrounding anti-gender-based violence efforts by informing young men about issues surrounding GBV and how one can contribute to its eradication.
Gender-based violence (GBV) refers to any violent act or action directed at a person on the basis of their gender.
Atang Swartbooi (19), the founder of #YoubeforeMe! and second-year law student at the North-West University’s (NWU) Potchefstroom Campus, said they wanted to host this speaker event to inspire students to disregard comments such as “you are fighting a losing battle”.
“We hope that those who watched the debate are encouraged to participate in dialogue, as normalising these conversations is instrumental in the fight against this issue,” Swartbooi said.
Swartbooi expressed his feelings that the speaker event was a valuable experience for the attendees as the level of interaction from both the physical and online audience was truly remarkable. “The inquisitive nature of all attendees signified the willingness to learn, and hopefully many can learn from that. I got inspired by everyone’s willingness to help in realising this event and this has made us want to aspire for more,” he said.
Swartbooi’s key takeaway from the debate was the in-depth and diverse dissection of the topic. “All those involved really dug deeper than just the usual ‘scratching the surface for the sake of talking about GBV’.” Everyone managed to converse and engage with one another, he said.
Charma du Plessis, one of the student speakers, and also a threestreamsmedia journalist, who participated in the debate, said she enjoyed the debate immensely. “I feel like debates are a great learning opportunity for everyone involved and that it’s important to participate in these kinds of events because you can both learn from them and educate through them, whether you’re a speaker or an audience member asking a question,” she said.
According to Du Plessis, there is a lot more to discuss about this issue, and a lot more to be done than the little bit that was brought up during the debate.
According to Swartbooi, #YoubeforeMe! will be embarking on many more speaker events in the future, as well as starting grassroot awareness initiatives to educate the youth through internal conversations with members and advocating for more education in schools.Students can involve themselves or support this initiative by attending future events or following the #YoubeforeMe! Instagram page at @_youbeforeme.
