Conversations with Male Students at a Rural University in South Africa: Implications for Peace and Development for our Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Published in: African Journal of Development Studies Vol. 15; no. 2; p. 319
• Main Authors: Mrubula-Ngwenya, Samukezi, Govender, Saraswathie, Maotoana, Mpho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd 01.06.2025
• Subjects: Advocacy; Afrocentrism; Children; Children & youth; College students; COVID-19; Discrimination; Gender identity; Gender-based violence; Masculinity; Mothers; Pandemics; Peace; Perpetrators; Socioeconomic factors; Victims; Young men; South Africa
• ISSN: 2634-3630; 2634-3649
• DOI: 10.31920/2634-3649/2025/v15n2a15

Gender-based violence (GBV) is understood within the context of men’s and women’s relative social and economic disadvantage and discrimination. Men are always considered as perpetrators of GBV and rarely as victims. While the authors take into consideration the continued violence perpetrated against women and children in South Africa, the authors want to reveal the silence and the realisation that in the fight and advocacy for and against GBV, men and boy children are left behind. South Africa, as cited by President Cyril Ramaphosa is dealing with a second pandemic which is GBV (COVID-19 as the first pandemic). However, when narrating and finding solutions for this scourge, the focus has always been on women and children, thereby invisibilising and silencing men’s voices as victims of GBV. Therefore, this article unpacks the discussion that the authors had with male students at a South African rural university where these young men reflected on issues such as brotherhood, love and unity, understanding gender identity, and the role of culture in constructing a man to name a few. Theoretically, this article is guided by the Hegemonic Masculinity theory (re)theorised by (Mfecane 2020), which calls for a decolonised scholarship on African men and masculinities that truly comprehends the narrative from African men’s perspective. An Afrocentric lens is adopted to reflect on conversations with young men about GBV and its implications for peace and development among Sub-Saharan African youth. This chapter recommends that there is a need for inclusive programmes and policies that realise that men, just as women and children, are victims of GBV.