Hatred of women by men main perpetrator of GBV'

SWAGAA is the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse.

Misogyny is the hatred of women.

Manzini was speaking yesterday during the commemoration of the International Human Rights Day at Mountain Inn.

"Some men express fear, disgust and hatred of women, often in the way of undermining the human rights violations of women and claiming that women are making much ado about nothing," she said.

She said the first step to correcting misogyny was through the understanding of the subtle ways in which the concept manifested.

"Misogyny has its roots in a variety of social forces and is most prevalent in male dominated societies. It is rooted in distrust and fear of the unknown.

"Women are seen as the ‘other,’ necessary for procreation and satisfaction of sexual drives," Manzini said.

"Unfortunately, the call for this truth attracts a lot of backlash, anger and fear," she added.

She said the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence campaign did not mean that men were not subjected to violence, but observed that more women than men were subjected to violence.

"Violence of any form is not to be tolerated, no matter who the perpetrator is.

"We must, however, be very careful about assuming that women and men experience violence in the same way because when we do so we are flippantly saying ‘all is well, why should we address the issue because everyone is affected’. "We are in fact further discriminating against women and victimising those women who have been subjected to such brutal acts," Manzini said.

She said there was a need for the marginalised, like people living

with disabilities and the poor, to be included in political decision-making.

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