Pretoria - As August marks the start of Women's Month, liquor traders, patrons and taxi operators across four provinces have pledged to stand against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide.
The National Liquor Traders said as it kicked off Women's Month it would be launching a series of tavern dialogues on gender-based violence supported by Distell.
The dialogues facilitated by the NGO Act Now, are designed to educate and equip people to drive positive change in their communities and are to be facilitated by subject matter experts.
During that time the men are invited to open up about their experiences and views, particularly about what constitutes gender-based violence.
In addition to that the men will also as part of the programme, be invited to take the Never in Our Name pledge, which is to stand as an undertaking to stand tall, be brave and support the women of our country and say: "Never in Our Name will GBV happen."
Convenor of the National Liquor Traders, Lucky Ntimane said people gathered in taverns to socialise and relax, and they should be safe spaces for patrons to interact.
Ntimane said the dialogues would be held in 20 taverns in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape throughout the month of August earmarked as Women's Month in the country.
He said the organisation had chosen to host the dialogues particularly in areas that had been identified as hotspots for gender-based violence from an analysis of the official crime statistics.
"Violence has no place in our society and our taverns have an important role to play in upholding community values and promoting responsible drinking. This includes taking the lead in eliminating gender-based violence and femicide," Ntimane said.
"With the litany of reports of women and children being hurt and killed by men, it is time for men to take a stand and lead in the fight against the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide."
Pretoria News