Father A Nation is an organisation looking to flip the Gender-Based Violence narrative by focussing on the perpetrator and how to combat the problem by raising better men.
South Africa (10 December 2021) – Father A Nation (FAN) is a non-profit organisation that is empowering and educating men and boys to end the cycle of gender-based violence (GBV) and fatherless homes.
Father A Nation addresses gender-based violence, crime and fatherlessness by restoring and equipping men to be nation-builders, fathers and role models. We teach men to use their strength to love, serve, protect and provide and to be activists against any form of abuse.
The non-profit marked the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children by announcing the opening of its first #NOEXCUSES community centre in Alexandra, Johannesburg, on Wednesday the 8th of December.
The organisation hopes that the centre will be the first of many spaces providing men and boys with the tools to be better citizens and deal with hardships and rage in a healthy way. It calls on society to encourage positive affirmations for the role that men and boys can play in making our society better.
The support centre in Alexandra will provide the much-needed training and support to men in the Alex community, empowering them to become a source of upliftment and protection in their communities and families.
“Bringing back the values of protecting families especially women and children and the value of fatherhood in disadvantaged communities starts with men and boys getting the support they need to be better men,” says FAN founder and CEO, Craig Wilkinson.
“It is not enough to simply create awareness and address the issues faced by victims of GBV if the potential perpetrators are not adequately addressed, humanised and involved in the healing process our communities desperately need.”
It is clear that South African men have experienced great trauma and hardship in the decades leading up to democracy. This is to say nothing of the socio-economic pressures which continue to weigh on families and individuals in disadvantaged communities.
Through the support of companies like ABInBev via Carling Black Label and Bettabets, the community centre has been furnished and prepared for the future projects and activities of FAN.
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FAN has always emphasised the importance of investing time and resources into the uplifting of boys, men and fathers of society as a key element in healing broken homes and curbing the surge of violence against women and children.
“We are living at a point of crisis where 80% of South African homes have children but no father. We are also seeing the rates of rape and other forms of GBV continue to escalate during the Covid-19 era,” says Wilkinson.
“No man is born an abuser or an absent father. It is a result of years and sometimes generations of neglected trauma, incomplete childhoods and socio-economic ills. These are by no means excuses for the violence we are seeing, but they represent an opportunity to deal with the problem at its root.”
To reduce GBV, we need to first understand why it is happening and then implement interventions to address the root cause. This 16 Days of Activism FAN wants to change the narrative that GBV campaigning should be aimed primarily at victims.
On the contrary, by banding together with the men and boys who have the power to break the cycle of violence. By giving them support and creating messaging directed at them, the fight against GBV will have more allies and start to see real, lasting change. By changing the narrative, shifting from a focus on the victim to a focus on the perpetrator in order to identify why GBV is happening and developing programmes and interventions to prevent it from happening.
The first #NOEXCUSE support centre boasts the services of FAN mentors, including community leader Charles Mpepho who will provide counselling, training and mentoring services for men and boys who want to be part of the change.
The aim of the centre is to equip community members with skills, awareness and resources that will allow them to understand their power and role in society and make it work for their self-improvement and the greater good.
You can learn more about Father A Nation via the website here.
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